Love, Rebellion, and Revenge
by ninasdreams
Summary: Reina and Kira Summers are in the same year as Harry Potter. As time brings trouble and tries the sisters' bond, Reina will have to make choices that will affect many people's futures, including The-Boy-Who-Lived. R&R!
1. P2P The Sorting

**a/n: This chapter is actually a prologue to my prologue. it was the first part of this story that i wrote and then for some reason i can't remember i decided not to use in the actual story. i was reading it over the other day and i decided that i really did like it and i was probably tired the last time i read it. so here it is. this takes place before the prologue Looking Through Your Eyes. Okay enough rambling. Enjoy!**

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Prologue to a Prologue: The Sorting

"Let's sit in the front, Reina," a young brunette begged. "My trunk weighs a ton and Kin won't stop screeching." The dark haired girl in front of her gave an exasperated sigh but kept walking.

"I want an empty compartment, and there are too many people up front," Reina explained. "If the trunk is heavy Kira, use the spell mum taught us before we left."

"Oh yeah," Kira stopped and turned. Waving her new wand she said, "_Locomotor Trunk_!" Kira jogged to catch up to Reina who had entered an empty compartment near the middle of the train, her trunk floating along behind.

Although they were twins Kira and Reina Summers were quite different in appearance, making it almost impossible to identify them as sisters. Born less than a day apart, Reina was the elder of the two. She had straight ebony hair which she wore to just past her shoulders. Her fair skin brought out the black colored contacts that she wore at all times to hide the unusual color of her eyes. Kira, the younger of the sisters, had slightly wavy auburn hair which she wore just above the shoulders. While she shared her sister's fair skin she did not share her eye color, sporting hazel eyes instead.

As both girls finished getting settled in, the train whistle blew and the Hogwarts Express left platform nine and three-quarters. As London flew by outside, Reina let Tobias, her Northern Hawk owl, out of his cage and settled back to read Miranda Goshawk's The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1). Tobias landed lightly on her shoulder and hooted contentedly.

Kira looked at her with hazel eyes and groaned. "Do you ever do anything besides read? You don't even seem happy to be going to Hogwarts."

Reina glared at her before replying, "First, despite the way I seem to you, I'm actually really excited to be going to Hogwarts. Second, do you have time for me to list the other things I do?"

Kira held out her hands defensively. "Alright, sorry."

"It's okay," Reina said smiling. Kira nodded and opened Kin's cage, allowing the young golden eagle to stretch its wings. Kira gazed out the window as fields flew by. In the seat opposite, Reina began to dose off.

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Reina awoke to find that she was alone in the compartment with a sleeping Tobias and Kin. She cursed under her breath as she adjusted her contacts and left in search of her missing sister. After searching a few of the cars she came across a girl her age with bushy brown hair who pointed her towards the back of the train. Reina finally located Kira in a compartment talking to two boys their age. "Finally," she sighed in exasperation and relief as she slid the door open.

"Oh hey, Reina," Kira said innocently.

"You could've at least told me where you were going," Reina said, annoyed.

"You were sleeping and I was bored," Kira defended. "And you can stop glaring at me; you're only a day older than me. It's not like you're mum." The two boys watched curiously as Reina sighed and shook her head.

"Whatever."

"Anyway…Ron, Harry, this is my sister, Reina," Kira introduced. "Reina, this is Ron Weasley and that's Harry Potter." Reina was shocked but recovered quickly and nodded, shaking both boys' hands.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Wow," Harry said, "you're the first person who hasn't started asking me a bunch of questions."

"It's kind of rude to start interrogating you," Reina pointed out.

"Well, thanks," Harry said. Just then the compartment door slid open and in walked three boys who looked to be first years as well. The middle one was paler than Reina and had blonde hair. The two flanking him looked like a couple of brainless bodyguards. After observing the newcomers, Kira decided to tune into what the blonde was saying.

"This is Crabbe and Goyle, and I'm Malfoy," he introduced. "Draco Malfoy."

Kira heard Ron cough slightly as she looked at Reina who shrugged. Both sisters had heard the Malfoys mentioned by their mother, although neither knew much about them. Once again Kira tuned into what Malfoy was saying.

"…You don't want to go making the wrong friends. I can help there."

"I can tell the wrong sort for myself thanks," Harry responded bitterly. Kira couldn't help but laugh at this statement.

Malfoy turned and glared at her. "What are you laughing at Mudblood?!" Both girls were up in an instant, wands pointed at his neck.

"First," Kira said anger clearly showing, "the Summers are a pureblood family!" Malfoy just smirked, unfazed.

"Second," Reina said, her voice calm but menacing, "never insult someone within hearing range of a sibling."

"Get out, Malfoy," Harry warned, now standing with a ticked off Ron by his side.

"I think we'll stay," Malfoy said smugly. Goyle reached for one of the chocolate frogs beside Ron, but suddenly yelled as Scabbers, Ron's rat, bit him.

"Now get out!" Kira commanded angrily. Malfoy glared daggers at the four of them, but made no move to leave.

"You could always stay," Reina commented innocently. Kira, Harry, and Ron looked at her like she had three heads. "There's this petrification spell I've been dying to try out."

Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

Reina just smiled sweetly as Kira shrugged. "You could always stay and find out," she suggested. Ron and Harry sniggered quietly.

"Crabbe. Goyle. We're leaving," Malfoy said. The three turned and stalked out, slamming the door shut behind them. The remaining four let out a unanimous sigh before Harry and Ron burst out laughing.

"Did you see the look on his face?!" Harry asked with tears coming to his eyes.

"I didn't know his skin could get any paler!" Ron added between laughs. The four of them sat back down in their seats as the boys' laughter subsided, Kira by Ron with Harry and Reina in the seat across from them. Kira kept glancing at Reina as Harry and Ron talked. Finally Reina couldn't take it anymore.

"What?"

"Would you really have used that spell?" Kira asked a bit reluctantly. Reina shook her head.

"I still have a bit to learn and practice before I can use it." Somehow that didn't make Kira feel any better, but she dropped the subject and began staring out the window and playing with a loose strand of her long auburn hair.

"You know," Ron whispered to Harry, "girls can be really scary sometimes."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," said an indignant Hermione Granger from the door.

Ron just glared at her. "Can we help you?"

"I came to make sure you weren't fighting," she responded. "I saw Draco Malfoy storm out of here earlier. Honestly, you don't want to get expelled before we even _see_ the school do you?" Ron was about to protest but Hermione cut him off. "You should get changed. I asked the conductor and he said we'll be there shortly." With that she left.

"Honestly," Ron said annoyed, "she acts like she's a prefect or something!" Kira and Reina said goodbye to Harry and Ron and made their way back to their compartment to change into their school robes.

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As the Summers sisters disembarked from the train, Kira found Ron and Harry and pulled Reina along towards them. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" Harry nodded at the gigantic man.

"That's Hagrid," Harry explained. "He's the gamekeeper." Kira and Reina nodded before following Hagrid and the other first years. After stumbling along a dark narrow path, they emerged in front of a fleet of small boats floating on a great lake.

"Four to a boat," Hagrid told all of them. Harry and Ron got in a boat with Hermione and another boy. Kira and Reina climbed into their own boat and were joined shortly by a boy and a girl.

The boy was the first to speak. "My name is Blaise Zabini," he said, "and this is Pansy Parkinson." Pansy shrugged in response.

"I'm Kira Summers," said Kira in her normal outgoing way, "and this is my sister Reina." Reina nodded and muttered a greeting as the boats began to move. The first years were silent as the boats glided along the lake's black glassy surface. When the boats docked, Hagrid led them to the front doors and knocked. The first years were greeted by a stern looking witch, Professor McGonagall. She led them through the entrance hall as they looked around in awe, to a side chamber. Turning around, she gave them a brief welcome speech before leaving the chamber.

The chamber wasn't well lit and it took Kira a minute to find Reina. "I wish you wouldn't wear those bloody contacts," she complained. "You don't need them and black makes it so much harder to find you."

"You know I hate drawing attention to myself," Reina replied. "Sticking out from everyone else is the last thing I want at the moment." Kira was about to point out that it didn't matter as they were going to school with Harry Potter, when some students behind them shrieked. Turning, the sisters found a group of ghosts not two feet away. The ghosts greeted the startled first years and wished them luck just as McGonagall returned. She led them into the great hall in a straight line.

As she brought forth a stool and an extremely battered hat, Reina muttered, "I think they need a new hat." Kira nodded in agreement. Just then the hall went silent as the hat burst into a long song. Just as Kira was about to complain to Reina, the hat fell silent once more and McGonagall spoke.

"When I call your name," she instructed, "please step forward and place the hat on your head."

Kira and Reina waited anxiously as one by one, students were called and sorted. Harry and Hermione were put in Gryffindor, while Malfoy and Pansy were put in Slytherin. Kira was about to explode from the anxiety when, "Summers, Kira." Kira walked forward, quickly placing the Sorting Hat on her head.

"Hmm…fiery, talented…brave," the Sorting Hat muttered in her head, "definitely…GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table cheered loudly as Kira happily took a seat between Hermione and the Weasley twins.

"Summers, Reina." Reina walked calmly and put the hat on, although her heart was pounding and her fingers clenched into fists with the excitement.

"Ahh, talented like your sister I see," it whispered, "but cunning, sly, and a bit cold. SLYTHERIN!" Reina released the breath she'd been holding and smirked to herself as she removed the hat and walked towards a cheering Slytherin table. Kira gaped as Reina sat down, watching as she turned and gave an apologetic shrug before focusing on the people at the Slytherin table.

"This can't be right," Kira said the hurt evident in her voice as she turned to her new housemates. "We really aren't that different."

"Not all siblings end up in the same house," Hermione said consolingly.

"Yeah, but she's in Slytherin! I could understand if it was Ravenclaw or something," Kira explained, "but we'd have to be total opposites for her to be in Slytherin." Kira was so preoccupied she barely noticed when Ron was sorted into Gryffindor and Blaise into Slytherin.

Reina clapped with the other Slytherins as Blaise was sorted into their house. Sitting down beside her Blaise asked, "So are you ready for all this to start?"

"You have no idea," Reina replied with her first real smile all day.

It was the start of a brilliant friendship.


	2. P Looking Through Your Eyes

Prologue: Looking Through Your Eyes

_Reina watched helplessly as a group of cloaked figures surrounded her mother. As her mother reached for her wand, one of the figures said, "_Immobulus_!" and she froze, paralyzed. Reina could only watch in horror as one figure stepped forward and pointed his wand shouting, "_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" Her mother slumped to the ground unmoving. Everything faded, but not before the killer turned to reveal garnet amber eyes._

Reina woke suddenly as tears silently streamed down her face. Slowly so as not to wake the other girls in the dormitory, Reina silently make her way down to the Slytherin common room. Sitting in front of the still lit fireplace, she hugged her knees to her chest and cried.

She was startled as a voice behind her suddenly exclaimed, "You're that girl who tried to hex me on the train."

Reina turned her head slightly, hiding her face behind her long raven black hair. She looked up to see none other than Draco Malfoy. "First," Reina said sniffing and wiping away the remaining tears, "my name is Reina. Second, I only threatened to petrify you."

"You won't now will you?" Draco asked worriedly.

"No. I still need to learn a bit before I can use those kinds of spells," Reina reassured. Feeling a bit safer Draco sat down beside her. "Why are you down here anyway?" she asked without looking at him.

Draco shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. You?" He tried to look at her face but she kept it hidden behind her hair.

"Bad dream," Reina replied. She refused to elaborate more.

"Why are you hiding your face?" Draco asked a bit irritated. "I'm not going to make fun of you for crying or anything."

Reina stiffened before slowly moving her hair and turning to meet his gaze. Draco almost gasped. Her eyes were amazing. They were fierce and cunning, and Malfoy found himself a bit intimidated. But what took him by surprise was the color. They were almost completely garnet (a/n: for those of you who don't know, garnet is like a crimson red color) except for a little bit of amber that surrounded her pupils.

"Weren't your eyes black on the train?" he managed to ask.

"I wear colored contacts when I'm in public," Reina explained.

"Why?"

"One time my sister Kira and I were playing outside when one of the neighbors came and asked Kira to play with them. When Kira motioned for me to follow, the girl shook her head and glared saying that my eyes were a sign that I was evil and should be avoided." Reina's face darkened at the memory. "Since then I've worn black contacts to avoid another situation like that."

"But doesn't Kira have the same eyes?" Draco questioned.

Reina shook her head. "She has our mother's hazel eyes. I unfortunately inherited our father's eyes." She grimaced when mentioning her father. Draco nodded in sympathy at this fact. "I should try and get some sleep," Reina said after awhile. Draco nodded in agreement and got up, offering Reina a helping hand. "Thanks," she muttered before locking eyes with him. "I really appreciate your company. Maybe you aren't just another bloody rich prat."

Draco blinked not knowing whether or not to be grateful or offended. In the end he gave up and started heading back to the boys' dorm when he stopped and turned. "Hey Reina," he said quietly. "I think you should stop wearing the contacts." Reina was taken aback. "You shouldn't have to hide because of your father or anyone else," he said before disappearing up the boys' staircase.

Reina numbly climbed to the girls' dorm and into bed. She fell asleep with a small smile as the image of a certain boy with platinum blonde hair and silvery grey eyes danced across her mind's eyes.


	3. 1 At Summer's End

**a/n: This fast forwards to everyone's 5th year. The Triwizard Tournament already happened and Voldemort has returned. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 1: At Summers' End

It was 9pm when two owls flew through the Summers' kitchen window. Reina looked up from her Divination book as both landed on the table. "Kira's upstairs," she said to the barn owl. As it took off upstairs, she untied the letter from the second owl that then left the way it had come.

_**Hey Reina,**_

_**My family and I just got back from Australia. It was brilliant! See you in a week when school starts.**_

_**Blaise Zabini**_

Reina smiled and quickly responded.

_**At least one of us had an interesting summer.**_

_**Reina**_

It had been four years since the two Slytherins had met for the first time as first years. Blaise and the Summers sisters were getting ready to head into their fifth year at Hogwarts. In the years they'd known each other, Reina and Blaise had become inseparable companions, quite a feat for Slytherins.

Reina whistled for her Northern Hawk Owl, Tobias as her mum walked in. "Who's the letter from?" she asked.

"Blaise," Reina responded as she finished tying the letter to Tobias' leg. She gave him a small snack before letting him fly off.

"Mum! Reina!" her sister Kira shouted, running into the kitchen. "Harry sent me a letter saying he--"

"was not expelled from Hogwarts after his hearing with the ministry about the dementor incident," Reina finished in a bored tone.

Although they'd been sorted into opposing houses, the bond between Reina and Kira had in fact grown stronger. They had refused to let the Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry separate them, choosing to hang out with each other despite the opposition from some friends and housemates. That didn't stop the siblings bickering.

"How did you know that?" Kira asked.

"I take Divination, Kira," Reina said gesturing towards her book and tea leaves. "And I happen to be really good at it." Their mum chuckled.

"Why do you bother with that class?" Kira asked. "That woman is a lunatic!"

"We are not going through this again," Reina said glaring at her. "I'm going to bed." Picking up her Divination book, she hugged her mother before climbing the stairs to her room.

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"Reina. Reina!" Kira hissed, shaking her sister violently. She slowly woke up, a bit dazed and annoyed.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?!" Reina growled.

Kira shushed her. "There's someone in the house," she explained. "Mum went downstairs to check it out. She said to get out of the house and hide." Reina nodded and slipped out of bed quietly, grabbing her wand as she followed Kira. The two of them made their way silently down the steps.

As they snuck towards the front door, they passed by the kitchen door which was slightly ajar. Reina stopped when she heard voices coming from within as Kira kept going, failing to notice the sudden stop.

Reina peered into the kitchen and saw their mother backed against a wall by a tall cloaked figure. A Death Eater. "You didn't honestly think," he asked, "you would never see me again, did you?" Their mother glared, quickly reaching for her wand. "Immobulus!" the figure yelled.

She froze.

"Enough talk," the Death Eater said, pointing his wand. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" There was a bright green flash, and Reina watched in horror as their mother slumped to the ground unmoving. Backing away quickly, she turned and ran blindly. Her mind went numb as she realized that she'd seen this happen long before in what had appeared to be a nightmare. Tears threatened to escape her garnet amber eyes as she reached the front yard, only to run into the Death Eater she was fleeing. Looking up, Reina found herself face to face with garnet amber eyes identical to her own.

"You!"

"Now Reina," mocked Donovan Summers, "is that any way to greet your father?"

"You murdered my mother you filthy piece of dirt!" she spat.

"She signed her own death sentence the second she helped the aurors send me to Azkaban!" he shouted. "The only reason you and your sister still live is because you I have plans for, and Kira unfortunately escaped before I could kill her."

"Don't do me any favors," Reina muttered sarcastically.

"Your heart is just as dark as mine," Donovan sneered. "You're the only one left in this family worthy to serve the Dark Lord."

"As if," she said a bit more bravely than she actually felt.

"You have four months to consider," Donovan hissed. "Become a Death Eater or I will make sure you die a slow tortured death!" Before Reina could reply, he disapperated. She dropped to her knees numbly as rain began to fall.

Kira slowly left her hiding place nearby and came to kneel in front of her sister. "Is mum really..." The numbing sensation that had gripped Reina's mind retreated as she realized…this was not a nightmare like before. Her mother was truly dead, and she had done nothing. It was with that thought that Reina finally broke down. Kira hugged her tightly as the rain fell silently around them, masking both of their tears.


	4. 2 Back In Session

Chapter 2: Back in Session 

Time seemed non-existent to the Summers sisters, the week leading up to the start of school a blur. The girls had held a quiet funeral for their mother with just the two of them. They didn't know of any relatives on their mother's side and they did not even give the unknown relatives on their father's side a second thought. They had gotten owls from Blaise, the Golden Trio, and the Weasley twins expressing their sympathy and support when their mother's obituary came out in the Daily Prophet.

The ministry sent people to question them on what had happened that night, although they refused to take the sisters seriously when they said that it had been a Death Eater. Every mention of the Death Eater being their father, Donovan Summers, was met with the ministry official's quick assurance of, "Donovan Summers is currently locked up in Azkaban." Reporters from the Daily Prophet came as well to interview them, but left quickly at a death glare from Reina every time. To get away from all of the attention and reporters, the sisters took a day and flooed to Diagon Alley to purchase school supplies.

With their school supplies already purchased and their trunks packed there was nothing left to do but wait and try to avoid thinking about what they would do come next summer. Finally, the day came and Kira and Reina left for the train station.

The rain came down relentlessly as the ministry car pulled into the station. The girls loaded their trunks onto two carts with Kin and Tobias before making their way towards platform 9¾. "Ready for this Rei?" Kira asked quietly as they arrived at the barrier. A small sad smile crossed Reina's face as she heard the old childhood nickname.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she replied. "Besides, school may help distract us a bit."

With that Reina and Kira walked through the barrier onto platform 9¾. There standing by the train were their friends waving at them. Harry, Ron, and Hermione waved at Kira; Blaise and the Weasley twins stood beside them waving at Reina. Kira smiled and raced over to her friends with Reina a little behind her, a smile on her face as well. Kira hugged the golden trio tightly as Hermione said, "We're so glad to see you Kira, and we're sorry about your mum. If there's anything we can do to help…" Kira just nodded sadly and hugged Hermione even tighter.

Fred and George smiled as Reina approached her friends. "How's our fellow criminal mastermind holding up?" they asked each giving her a small hug.

"I'll live…I think," she replied honestly.

"That's the Reina I know," Blaise said pulling her into a tight embrace. Reina closed her eyes, relaxing into the comforting embrace of her best friend.

"By the way, mate," George added, "nice haircut!"

Fred nodded agreement with his twin.

"Ron and I are prefects this year," Hermione told Kira, "so we have to head onto the train. You guys should get settled in too." As Reina pulled away from Blaise, she was surprised to see none other than Draco Malfoy staring at her from the shadows of the Hogwarts Express. He surprised Reina further by nodding at her briefly with what looked to be a small, almost apologetic smile before turning and getting on the train.

"Hey Reina," Kira said waving a hand in front of Reina's face to get her attention. "We'd better get our stuff on the train soon before there aren't any compartments left." Reina just nodded and grabbed Tobias' cage from the cart as Blaise and the twins forced her luggage onto the train.

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The carriages sat waiting for the students as Kira and Reina disembarked with their friends and Luna Lovegood who Harry and Kira had met on the train. Reina heard Harry gasp as they all looked at the carriages. "I assume you can see the thestrals pulling the carriages," Luna whispered to him so quietly that Reina barely heard. Harry nodded.

"I've never seen them before," he said.

"That's because–"

"You were the one who saw Cedric Diggory die last year," Reina whispered bluntly. Harry looked a bit put off at the memory but shook it off.

"If you have seen someone die, then you can see the thestrals," Luna explained. "They're such fascinating creatures."

"You can see them?" he asked Reina.

"I was there when my mother was murdered this summer," Reina replied simply with a bitter edge to her voice.

Everyone climbed into the carriages; Blaise, Reina, and the twins in one and everyone else in another. As the carriages began moving, Fred and George leaned forward towards Reina.

"We want to come up with a prank that we can put in reserve in case the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is horrible," Fred told her.

"After all," George added, "the only good one we've had so far was Professor Lupin."

Reina nodded. "We'll see who the new teacher is at the banquet and size them up. I should have a rough idea by breakfast tomorrow."

"You know one of these days the three of you are going to get caught," Blaise told them. "If Filch had anything to say about it you'd be hanging by your toes in the dungeons."

The trio laughed. "I guess it's a good thing that Filch has no say in it then," Reina said as their laughter subsided.

"Besides," Fred added, "with Reina collaborating with us–"

"We can't get caught unless we actually want to," George finished. Blaise just shrugged whatever as the carriage came to a halt in front of the castle.

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Reina and Blaise sat side by side at the Slytherin table enjoying the opening feast. The food was overwhelming and as Blaise put down the remnants of his pumpkin pasty, he looked over at Reina. "Reina, are you alright?" he asked a bit concerned. "You've barely eaten anything."

"I'm fine," she said with a reassuring smile. "Just not that hungry."

Blaise sighed and shook his head. "Don't make it a habit or I'll make sure I get food in you the hard way." Reina laughed at this, touched by her friend's genuine concern.

"You know," she said, "I'll never understand how you made it into Slytherin. You seem more like a mix between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."

Blaise gave her a look of mock hurt. "I'll have you know that I find the Hufflepuff part of that comment insulting." Reina just shook her head. "So," Blaise plowed on, "hopefully we'll get to have a relatively good school year this term."

"Well we're all gonna have to study a lot harder," Reina pointed out. "After all, we have our O.W.L.s this year." Blaise just shrugged. Reina playfully punched him in the shoulder. "What's with the shrug?"

"In my opinion," Blaise explained, "O.W.L.s are just another test that we have to pass at the end of the year. They're just a little bit more important than normal."

"Yeah, a test that determines which classes that we take next year," Reina pointed out. "I may be a Slytherin, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna blow them off like we all normally do."

Blaise laughed. "Alright, alright. When we get close to O.W.L.s I promise I'll take them seriously."

Just then Dumbledore stood up with his hands raised, calling for silence and everyone's attention. "As we near the end of our opening feast," he said, "I would like to introduce Professor Umbridge, who is here from the Ministry of Magic, and will also be this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Reina looked at her in disgust as there was some scattered applause. The woman was short and round and as she surveyed the students, she looked as if she'd eaten something sour and her face had gotten stuck that way. Reina risked a glance at the Weasley twins who were whispering heatedly to each other and trying to control their laughter.

"I don't like her already," Blaise whispered to Reina. Reina nodded.

"If she keeps that up her face is going to get stuck like that," she commented.

"Hey Summers!" Pansy sneered from across the table next to a bored looking Draco. "What's wrong, nothing witty or insulting at all?" Reina rolled her eyes. "Not even that she looks like a toad? You must have lost your touch or become mute over the summer!" Reina disliked Pansy more than anyone else in Slytherin or the other houses. The girl talked non-stop grating on her last nerve, and she clung to Malfoy like she was permanently attached to him. Normally she would ignore her, but after the last week she was in no mood for Pansy's attempts to impress Malfoy.

"Shut it Pansy!" Reina snapped. "I will insult whomever I want, whenever I want, however I want. However, if your simple mind can't come up with the obvious deduction than I'll tell you what I think. She does not look like a toad, only you could pull that off." Pansy opened her mouth to retort but Reina plowed on, not giving her the chance. "She looks like an imp that's had something sour and if she keeps looking around like that, her face is going to get stuck that way."

Pansy opened her mouth as if to say something but than closed it again when she came up blank. "Oh I'm sorry," Reina said innocently. "Did you want to say something?" Pansy just gave her a withering glare, but Reina remained unfazed. She even thought she saw Malfoy smirk at Pansy's pathetic attempts but she couldn't be sure. Finally Dumbledore announced that the feast was at it's end and for the students to all head to their dormitories.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was back in session.


	5. 3 Unsought Solace

**Blanket Disclaimer: I was so anxious to post this story that I forgot the disclaimer in the other chapters! So now I will make ammends by clarifying that I DO NOT under any circumstances own anything _Harry Potter_. I only own the Summers family and the random Ravenclaw, Alex.**

**That is going to be the only time I say it, as it obvious. **

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Chapter 3: Unsought Solace

Reina sat in front of Kira and the golden trio with her head in her hands. "I may be a Slytherin," she groaned to Blaise, "but that doesn't make double Potions first thing in the morning any less painful."

"You've got nothing on us," Harry interjected gloomily. Reina opened her mouth to say something but Kira cut her off.

"I agree with Harry," she said. "At least Snape doesn't go trying to find every little flaw in your work." Reina looked at Blaise and they both shrugged; no denying the truth in that statement.

"Well, if you'd all just give up that noble Gryffindor bravery and pride, you would all probably make excellent Slytherins," Blaise said with a smirk. Ron looked appalled at the thought.

"Or you could all just brew your potions correctly and there wouldn't be a problem," Reina snapped irritably just as Malfoy walked in and sat down nearby; Pansy following closer than his shadow. As luck would have it, however, she stopped beside Reina's seat.

"A bit snappy this morning, aren't we, Summers?" Pansy said with a sneer that could almost rival Malfoy's. Almost.

"Shut it, Parkinson!" Reina snapped back. "I'm not in the mood this morning and if another word leaves your lips, I promise I'll hex you." Reina turned her back on Pansy and began talking to Blaise as if she weren't there.

"You little bi-"

Reina was up in an instant with her wand pointed at Pansy. "I dare you to finish that sentence," Reina growled. "So what would you rather, the face of a troll or giant boils?"

Pansy stood her ground. "You wouldn't dare. You're too scared to break the rules."

"Both it is then," Reina confirmed and raised her wand. She was stopped as Blaise grabbed her wrist in a firm grip.

"Don't Reina," Blaise whispered imploringly. "Snape will be here any second and she's not worth it."

Reina was about to explain to Blaise exactly why Pansy deserved to be hexed when-

"Pansy! Stop trying to impress me and sit down!" Malfoy had an exasperated look on his face. Pansy gave Reina one last glare before stalking off to sit beside Malfoy.

"If you say so Drakie Poo." Malfoy cringed. Just as Reina and Blaise sat back down, Snape walked in, robes billowing along behind him.

"You will be brewing a minor truth potion," he told them. "The instructions are on the board and you know where the ingredients are. I want a sample in a vial on my desk by the end of class. Begin!"

As the students began shuffling around, Blaise whispered, "Malfoy may never give us even the time of day, but sometimes I pity him."

"No kidding," Reina agreed. "Pansy's worse than a leech." With that said, the two set to work on their latest potions assignment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reina dragged herself up the ladder and through the trap door into Trelawney's room. Flopping down on one of the cushions, Reina let out a content sigh while remembering the constant skepticism Kira expressed about Divination. It wasn't that she liked Trelawney, as Kira seemed to believe. On the contrary, she found the woman rather irritating.

Somehow her distracted mind registered the brave Ravenclaw just sitting down beside her. As the only Slytherin taking Divination, finding someone to work with during class was a bit different. Having few friends to begin with (none of whom took the class besides Harry and Ron who didn't really count), finding said partner banked entirely on who Reina could tolerate. Gryffindors were out of the question as they had zero tolerance for a Slytherin, and Hufflepuffs stared at her like she was a poisonous snake ready to strike. That left Ravenclaws who seemed to be the most tolerable. The particular girl had formed a mutual understanding with Reina. They interacted solely because of the class, end of story.

Reina wrenched her thoughts back to the present as Trelawney appeared from the shadows and began addressing the class. "Today we will be delving into the art of aura reading," she announced. "Every person, magical or muggle is surrounded by an invisible aura. This aura is stronger in magical persons, and depicts one's feelings and thoughts in a vague sense." She paused, waiting for some kind of reaction that wasn't forthcoming. "You will pair up and you will take turns reading each other's aura. You will find a sort of guide on page 147 of your books."

Reina and her partner opened their books, reading over its instructions and description of aura reading. When finished, Alex (her partner) nodded at her signaling for Reina to go first. Without any sign of acknowledgment, Reina focused on the area around Alex. Doing as the book instructed, Reina kept her eyes from really focusing on anything, instead trying to feel the emotions coming off of Alex. Nothing.

Shaking her head, Reina motioned for Alex to try. Alex wordlessly repeated the same process, without success. She tried and failed again, this time growling in frustration. Reina tried once more as well with about as much success as her first try. A quick glance at Harry and Ron revealed their usual lack of effort. A quick sweep of the room told Reina that no one else was making much progress either.

Towards the end of the class, Trelawney began going around to the groups and reading a random partner's aura. As luck would have it, Reina was the lucky soul when she came by. "Oh my!" she exclaimed in her whispery voice. "You have a very intriguing aura." Reina inwardly groaned. "At first there seems to be nothing but upon closer investigation, it seems my dear, that you're experiencing a storm of thoughts and emotions." Reina stiffened. "There is determination, anger, and feelings that you have not identified or even acknowledged yet."

"That's enough," Reina said as her discomfort grew.

"But all of this seems to be overwhelmed," Trelawney continued, "by such guilt."

"I said ENOUGH!" Reina snapped. Trelawney shook her head slightly as if snapping out of a daze.

"Dear child, have I said something wrong?" she asked confused. Reina just shook her head angrily. "Well," Trelawney began addressing the class, "I see that none of you have been able to see any auras." A bunch of disgruntled muttering was her response. "You will keep practicing, although very few witches or wizards can read auras. For the next class I want a two foot essay on an important aura reader." Taking that as their cue, the class proceeded to file out of the room to their next class.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the day passed in a haze. Reina went through her classes mechanically, doing everything as if she was actually watching herself from afar. Charms and lunch passed by as usual, leaving just an afternoon study period in the library and then some free time before dinner.

Reina sat alone at a table in the library writing her Divination essay. She didn't understand why none of the class could read auras; they'd done it exactly as the book had said. Had her mind not kept drifting to Trelawney's words, she might have studied the subject further. As it was, she was finishing off her essay when Kira walked in with Hermione and the only female Weasley. What did Fred and George call her, Ginny?

"Hey!" Kira said sitting beside her sister. "What's up?"

"Divination," Reina said simply. Kira grimaced while Hermione's sour face said exactly what she thought of the class.

"Harry and Ron couldn't make it," Kira informed, reverting to her sisterly attitude. "They had quidditch practice."

"I really don't care!" Reina snapped moodily. "The only reason they come is to hang out with you and Miss I-hate-your-Slytherin-guts over there." Hermione looked indignant but made no move to deny Reina's accusation. Taking note of Reina's unusually bad mood, Kira looked at her sister with concern.

"What's wrong Rei?" Kira asked. Ginny and Hermione just returned to their studies as Reina shook her head and sighed.

"Nothing," she told her truthfully. "Just dwelling on something someone said earlier."

"What did they say?" Kira asked.

"It was nothing," Reina reassured her. "I just…overreacted a bit." Kira wasn't quite convinced but dropped the subject for the moment as Reina got up to leave.

"I'll see you at dinner," Reina said in a slightly better mood. "And tell Harry and Weasley that it doesn't matter how much they practice, we're still gonna beat them."

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Reina sat alone in the Slytherin common room, staring at the fire burning softly in front of her. Despite what she'd told Kira in the library, what Trelawney had said did mean something to her. She could care less about the anger or the "unknown feeling" that Trelawney had apparently read in her aura. It was the guilt. It had been nagging at her and it was getting to the point that it was becoming unbearable. Soft footsteps behind her caused Reina to snap around, causing her to come face to face with the surprised silver gray eyes of Draco Malfoy.

"I didn't mean to scare you," he said recovering first. "You looked like you were sleeping and I was going to wake you up."

Regaining her voice Reina shook her head. "I was just thinking."

Malfoy came around and sat on the black leather couch beside her. "A penny for your thoughts."

Reina looked at him skeptically. "Since when do you care what I think, Malfoy?" Malfoy flinched and Reina looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"I may be a Malfoy," he explained, "but I do have a name of my own."

"That's not my fault," Reina pointed out. "The first and only time that we were ever on a first name basis was the night we were sorted."

"Either way, it would be nice if once in awhile I could be someone other than just a Malfoy," he confessed before changing the subject. "So are you going to tell me what you were thinking about?"

And although Reina didn't know why, she did. "We were learning how to read auras in Divination this morning." Seeing Draco's uncomprehending expression she explained, "A person's aura is supposed to give the reader an idea of the person's thoughts and feelings in an indirect sort of way." Draco nodded and Reina proceeded. "Trelawney was reading some people's auras towards the end of the class, including mine. She said that I harbored a lot of anger, determination, and something about unknown feelings, whatever that means. But she also told me that these were all overshadowed by a great sense of guilt."

"Not to be offensive or anything but Trelawney's not known for her accuracy or skill," Draco pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," Reina said shaking her head. "It was true, because it was my fault that our mother died."

This took Draco by surprise. "You don't really believe that do you? I heard it was a Death Eater who…killed her."

At this point a single teardrop escaped its prison to slide down Reina's cheek. "I could have prevented it. I should have known, I did know!"

"You couldn't possibly have known something like that would happen," Draco said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Remember five years ago, that night we were sorted?" Draco nodded. "The bad dream was a vision. I saw my mother's murder five years before it happened and I didn't stop it. I've always been proud of my skills in Divination, yet when it counted the most, I failed." A few more traitorous tears leaked out, but Reina furiously wiped them away, willing away the rest. "Instead, I watched as my mother was murdered in cold blood by my Death Eater father!" Reina exclaimed, the last word spoken with utter revulsion.

Draco unconsciously rubbed her back soothingly as he considered his words. "It wasn't your fault," he reiterated. "You didn't start Divination until third year, and you couldn't have known it was more than just a nightmare. The only one that should be blamed here is your father." Reina opened her mouth to protest, but Draco cut her off. "It's not your fault, Reina. If you don't believe me then talk to your sister about it, Gryffindors are supposed to be honest students."

Reina let his firm yet consoling words sink in as a clock in the room's corner chimed 11. Rising to head to the girls' dormitories Reina said softly, "Thanks, Draco."

Draco smiled, only the second genuine expression Reina had seen in the years she'd known him. "You're welcome," he said. "You shouldn't beat yourself up over something you had no control over."

Reina returned his smile with a small one of her own. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Reina."


	6. 4 Lies and Accusations

Chapter 4: Lies and Accusations

Reina woke early the next morning, feeling refreshed and unusually calm. As she went through her morning routines, she thought back on Malfoy's…no, Draco's firm but reassuring words. He was right, she realized now that she'd stopped to let his words sink in. There was no way she could've known what the dream meant at the time; she didn't even start Divination until her third year. As Reina finished up, the other girls in the dormitory began to wake up, signaling Reina it was time to head up to breakfast. It was too early for a confrontation with Pansy.

Reina was one of the first ones in the great hall for breakfast. She found Blaise seated alone as usual and was about to join him when she heard two familiar voices behind her.

"Ugh…I feel like I've been trampled by a herd of hippogriffs!"

"I know what you mean," replied an identical voice. "I've half a mind to pull a Malfoy and fake a broken arm." Reina turned and laughed lightly as the groaning Weasley twins entered the great hall.

"Malfoy would probably be so offended, he'd never fake another broken arm again," Reina input cheerfully. Fred and George laughed. "So what makes you two seem oh so cheery this morning?"

"Angelina's been practicing us non-stop since we lost so much time waiting for Professor Imp's permission to reform the team," Fred griped, using the trio's nickname for Umbridge.

"Yeah," George agreed. "Pretty soon we're going to merge with the Quidditch pitch!"

"Take advantage of the practice time," Reina advised. "We're not going to make it easy for you this year."

"It's been ages since you Slytherins beat us," Fred pointed out.

"Yeah, mate," George said in agreement. "You guys haven't beaten Gryffindor since Harry joined the team."

Reina just shrugged saying, "You never know. I have to go, see you two later."

Reina sat beside Blaise, grabbing a blueberry muffin. "Hey!" she greeted. Blaise looked up with a smile.

"Someone's looking rather happy this morning," he said giving her a brotherly hug.

"I finally got some stuff taken care of last night," Reina said taking a bite of her muffin and pouring a glass of pumpkin juice. The two friends looked up as Kira and Hermione walked in chatting about something or other, followed soon after by none other than Malfoy who was surprisingly alone. To the Slytherin pair's further amazement, he headed their way and sat down across the table.

"Zabini. Summers," he said nonchalantly. Reina sighed and shook her head. Apparently they were back to being on a last name basis.

"To what do we owe the honor of the Slytherin Prince's presence?" Reina joked.

Malfoy merely shrugged saying, "Zabini, could you hand me an apple?"

"Ever the conversational one isn't he?" Reina said to Blaise wryly.

"I try," Malfoy replied with his trademark smirk in place.

Shrugging and tossing Malfoy an apple, Blaise finally spoke up. "So, no Parkinson leech today?"

"If it was up to me," Draco explained with a grimace, "there would be a restraining spell on her." Reina laughed a bit at the thought of Pansy struggling against an invisible barrier as she tried to get to Draco. Blaise raised a questioning eyebrow but Reina just shook her head. She was finishing off her breakfast when the owls arrived.

…with Kira…

"So the next DA meeting is tonight?" Kira asked Harry.

Harry nodded in confirmation. "I changed the time on my coin before I came down. I'm thinking we should start--"

"Oh no," Hermione whispered dismally, Daily Prophet in hand.

"If it's more lies about me," Harry said, "it doesn't matte, Hermione." Hermione shook her head and wordlessly passed the paper to Kira pointing. There, at the bottom of the page was a small article on her father.

**Death Eater Escapes**

_Last night, officials at Azkaban found the cell of notorious Death Eater,_

_Donovan Summers, empty. It is believed that he escaped yesterday _

_morning, only the second to ever manage such a feat. Summers was _

_part of You-Know-Who's inner circle before his downfall and was _

_considered one of his most devoted and deadly followers. He was_

_arrested based on an anonymous tip that had been given to the Ministry_

_when the Dark Lord fell from power. Although his current motives are_

_unclear as of yet, citizens are advised by the Ministry of Magic to be alert_

_and wary as Summers is considered very dangerous and ready to kill_

_without mercy._

"That's a lie!" Kira exclaimed, only to be shushed by Harry and Hermione. She went on in hushed tones, "He's been free since this summer. Fudge was probably trying to keep it a secret since they would look bad after the same thing happened with Sirius! Word must have leaked out somehow." By now all four Weasleys were listening as well. Kira turned to Fred and George. "Don't tell Reina," she said imploringly. "She'll be furious!"

"Too late, mate," George said, nodding towards the Slytherin table.

…with Reina…

Reina fed Tobias a strip of bacon before he flew off, leaving her a copy of the Daily Prophet. She skimmed the pages for anything of interest, bypassing the Ministry's irritating ramblings about Harry. "Anything good in there?" Blaise inquired. Reina was about to say no when something caught her eye.

There at the bottom of one of the pages was a picture of Donovan Summers, who seemed to be leering up at her. As her garnet-amber eyes reached the end of the article, Reina felt a burst of anger take shape. She stood suddenly muttering, "_Incendio_!" through gritted teeth before storming out of the great hall. A stunned Blaise managed to catch a glimpse of the article's picture before it was consumed by the enchanted flames.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Reina felt herself slowly regain her control as a cool October breeze rearranged her midnight black hair. She breathed in the scent of the crisp autumn air, momentarily closing her eyes and relaxing into fall's cool soothing arms. Reina slowly opened her eyes at the feeling of someone sitting down lightly beside her.

"Rei, you alright?" Kira asked voice laced with concern. Reina nodded.

"It's just…if they'd done their job and reported right away when he actually escaped, mum might still be here," she said sadly. The sisters sat in a comfortable silence for awhile, gazing at the Hogwarts grounds. After a few minutes, Reina broke the silence. "We'd better go back in," she said quietly. "Classes are gonna start soon." Kira stood and nodded in understanding.

"See you in Transfiguration," she said before heading into the castle.

Reina stood a minute longer before heading into the castle in a slightly better mood. As she headed down one of the halls on her way to Transfiguration, she slowed down at what sounded suspiciously like Umbridge. Looking around the corner, Reina saw Umbridge interrogating Ginny.

"Are you saying that the Ministry is lying about Potter?" Umbridge asked indignant.

"Yes," Ginny replied firmly. "Harry never lied about You-Know-Who and the Ministry refuses to admit the truth." Umbridge narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to begin some tirade when Reina strolled calmly around the corner.

"Sorry to interrupt professor, but the headmaster wishes to see Miss Weasley," Reina lied. "He told me to escort her to his office immediately. So if you'll excuse us…" Without even waiting for the woman to reply, Reina grabbed Ginny's arm leading her away from the impish professor. When they were safely out of sight Reina stopped, ignoring Ginny's questioning gaze as she cautiously peered around the corner and watched Umbridge depart in the opposite direction. Reina let out a small sigh.

"You're not actually taking me to see Dumbledore, are you?" Ginny piped up. Reina shook her head.

"No, but it would be wise not to bad mouth that crap the Ministry calls news while that imp is nearby," she cautioned.

"You're not very fond of her are you?" Ginny asked.

"About as much as Malfoy likes Harry and vice versa." Ginny nodded in understanding, looking as though she was contemplating something else. "Look," Reina said, "I'm late for class. I'll be lucky if McGonagall doesn't take tons of points from Slytherin."

"Well, thanks," Ginny said sincerely. Reina shrugged it off before heading to class.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The sound of quills scratching filled the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom that afternoon as the Slytherins worked silently on Umbridge's assignment; a one and a half foot essay on the reasons behind the ban on various dark arts. Even in the eyes of the Slytherins, her teaching methods and assignments were even more annoying and pointless than those of Lockhart himself. Therefore it was no surprise when Reina, Slytherin's smartest member, was the first to turn in the pointless assignment.

"It seems you've surpassed the minimum length," Umbridge said tartly as Reina handed her paper in.

"I tend to study harder than most in my house, Professor," Reina replied briskly. Umbridge did not respond and proceeded to skim through the essay. Reina turned and began to head back to her seat when she was stopped by a quiet "Hem, hem." Reina tensed.

"Is there something else, Professor?" she asked stiffly without turning around.

"You seem to have knowledge of this subject that goes deeper than that of a mere student, Miss Summers," Umbridge stated, although there was no compliment or praise in her words.

_Is this because of the article in the Daily Prophet?_ Reina wondered. A few students had stopped their essays at the beginning of the tense conversation. "Despite their very many flaws," Reina responded cautiously still not looking at the impish woman, "most of our previous teachers in this subject were very capable instructors."

"Or is it that you have some personal experience in this area acquired elsewhere, say…at home?" Umbridge inquired slyly. "Perhaps your _mother_ taught you some of the dark arts?"

Reina snapped. "How dare you!" she exclaimed whirling around.

Umbridge ignored her outburst. "Or perhaps it is that you study them on your own and wish to follow in your _dear_ father's footsteps," she speculated. By this time about half the class was following the exchange with rapt attention, assignment forgotten.

"Are you_ implying_ that I'm a Death Eater?!" Reina whispered menacingly.

Umbridge narrowed her beady eyes. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree as the saying goes, my dear."

Reina's garnet-amber eyes narrowed as well, making her look extremely intimidating. "As far as emotional ties are concerned," she hissed furiously, "that man is my father solely through ties of blood, which in this case, happen to be thinner than water."

The imp stood firm. "You-Know-Who's followers do not care about emotional ties."

"That is **ENOUGH**!" Reina shouted whipping out her wand from her sleeve, and causing an empty glass vial behind Umbridge to shatter in her fury. "Don't **EVER **insult my mother's memory or me again, or Merlin help me, I will _show_ you how like Donovan Summers I can be!"

"Are you _threatening_ me?" Umbridge asked her voice rising an octave, eyes never leaving Reina's wand.

Reina glared at her for a minute before causing Umbridge to jump in fright when she jabbed her wand in the air saying, "_Accio bag_!" Without even glancing behind at her completely shocked and silent classmates, Reina stormed from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.


	7. 5 Repercussions

**a/n: Wow...I'm so so sorry for neglecting this story for so long. Excuses are cheap so I won't give you any of those. But just to let people know, I have revised all the previous chapters in this story, some more than others. Hopefully some of the things that were confusing before have been clarified.**

**I'd like to thank my sister for urging me to continue writing this story. I'd also like to say a BIG thank you to SuGaRLiLy for her extremely helpful reviews of the previous chapters, I really really appreciate them.**

**Anyway, enough of me.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Repercussions

Reina stormed into the library, heading straight to a table in the very back corner. She was furious. Who did that woman think she was, accusing Reina of being the one thing that she hated most of all? For awhile, Reina did nothing but pace back and forth, fuming. At one point, Madam Pince came over saying, "Don't you have classes to attend young lady? The library is a place of study, not somewhere to go and skip classes."

Reina rounded on her and glared, fueled by her anger at Umbridge. "It's none of your business!" she snapped.

"You will not speak to me in that manner," Madam Pince scolded.

"_Leave. Me. Alone_," Reina hissed dangerously.

Madam Pince looked as if she would argue further, but instead huffed and walked away muttering, "Insolent Slytherins."

Reina sat down with her head in her hands as she tried to regain her usual calm exterior.

**––––––––––––****w/ Kira****––––––––––––**

It was towards the end of Charms, the final class period for the day, and Kira was on edge. Reina had failed to show up at lunch earlier in the day, which wasn't unusual for her. When Kira asked Fred and George where she was, they'd said they didn't know. Brushing it off as nothing Kira didn't inquire further, although she couldn't shake off the nagging feeling in the back of her mind.

A quick jab in the side brought Kira back to the present. "Ow!" she whined glaring at Ron beside her. "What was that for?!"

"You drifted off, mate," Ron explained. "Looked like a right loon to tell you the truth. And your charm is sparking pink." Kira looked at the illusion charm she was supposed to be working on. What was supposed to appear as a sparkling blue waterfall was a mess of pink sparks.

Kira shook her head with a sigh, muttering "_Decipio_," accompanying it with a wave of her wand. The dancing pink sparks solidified into a shimmering crystal blue waterfall.

"Splendid, Kira!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed from across the room.

"What's up with you today anyway?" Harry asked from Ron's other side. "You've been off since lunch."

"It's nothing really," the hazel eyed brunette reassured her friends. "I just have this nagging feeling that something is wrong with Reina."

"She's probably fine," Hermione said to Kira as she added a roaring sound to her waterfall illusion. "And if anything she can handle herself. After all, she is a Slytherin."

"'Mione's got a point there," Ron said with a shrug.

"Thanks guys," Kira said gratefully.

"No problem," Harry said with a smile, and then frowned. "Hermione, how does your waterfall look so real and make noise? Mine couldn't even pass for a leak in the castle's roof."

Kira chuckled as Hermione rolled her eyes.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Kira was speaking to Hermione as the four of them headed down to the Great Hall, when Harry tapped her on the shoulder.

"Don't look now, but it seems like the Slytherins are buzzing about something," he whispered.

Kira followed his gaze to a group of fifth-year Slytherins exiting the History of Magic classroom. She could just barely catch what they were saying.

"That class is so boring…not as interesting…Umbridge's class this morning…can't believe…flipped out…"

Just then she spotted Blaise in the middle of the pack and rushed over to him.

"Blaise," she said grabbing his arm. "Have you seen Reina?"

Blaise shook his head. "She hasn't been in class since DADA this morning."

"Why? What happened?"

"Umbridge––"

"Well look who we have here," sneered Malfoy coming up behind Blaise. He was flanked as usual by Crabbe and Goyle, Pansy practically hanging off his arm.

"Shove off, Malfoy!" said Harry as he, Ron and Hermione joined Kira.

"I could say the same to you and your pathetic friends, Potter," Malfoy retorted.

"Unless_you_ are going to tell me where my sister is, Malfoy," Kira impatiently interrupted, "then shut your bloody mouth!"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth but it was Pansy who spoke instead. "That pathetic excuse of a Slytherin is probably crying in a corner somewhere," she spat, "because Umbridge accused her of being a Death Eater. She's so pathetic though that the Dark Lord would kill her on site!"

No one saw the glare Malfoy sent Pansy's way as Kira's fist made contact with Pansy's face. Everyone just gaped as Pansy held her bleeding nose, tears coming to her eyes. Malfoy made no move to help her.

"I think you broke her nose," Ron said in disbelief.

"If you ever talk about my sister like that again, I'll find a way to hex you into oblivion!" Kira growled ignoring him.

Blaise just blinked repeatedly before saying, "You should probably check the library."

"I'll see you guys at dinner," Kira announced to her friends. Without waiting for a response, she shoved past the still gaping Malfoy and his gang and headed for the library.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Kira entered the library, not bothering to try and be quiet. Ignoring a disapproving look from Madam Pince and the annoyed or questioning glances of several students, she proceeded to walk up and down the rows and rows of bookshelves searching for garnet-amber eyes. Finally reaching the back of the library, Kira saw Reina sitting at a table in an isolated corner.

As she got closer, she saw that Reina had sketched a paper doll of Umbridge and a separate one of herself. The elder Summers sister stared intently as the Reina doll proceeded to strangle and shake the Umbridge doll angrily.

"You'll have to show me how to do that sometime," Kira said chuckling. Turning serious she said, "Blaise said you haven't been in class since DADA."

Reina looked up at Kira, brushing a strand of ebony hair from her face. "I wasn't able to fully calm down until after lunch," she said quietly. "After that I didn't feel like going to class so I stayed here. I did find this amusing animation charm though."

"Rei, what happened?" Kira asked gently.

Reina sighed and stayed silent for a bit. "We had to write an essay for Umbridge regarding the ban on various dark arts. She read mine and said first that mum taught me the dark arts," she explained quietly. "Then she said that I was probably trying to follow in Donovan's footsteps. She practically accused me outright of being a Death Eater!"

"All because of an essay that she herself assigned?" Kira asked in disgust. Reina nodded.

"I think it was also because of the article this morning," she added.

"You didn't do anything to her, did you?" Kira questioned, concerned. This time Reina shook her head.

"I flipped out on her and nearly gave her a heart attack when I grabbed my wand," Reina told her concerned sister, "but I didn't do anything to her."

"Good," Kira said with a sigh of relief. "Now, I don't know about you but I'm starving and dinner is just starting."

Reina waved her wand at the still grappling dolls and got up with a small smile. "To dinner we go then," she said.

"Yes," agreed Kira cheerfully. "To dinner we go!"

––––––––––––-**w/ Reina––––––––––––**

"Guess what tomorrow is," Kira said to Reina as they headed to the Great Hall. Reina shrugged.

"Friday?"

"Well, yeah but that's not what I meant," Kira said with a slight pout.

"Is it…snake beat lion day?" Reina guessed with a thoughtful expression, playing along.

"Yep!" Kira confirmed enthusiastically. "The annual Gryffindor versus Slytherin match is tomorrow. However, we are most definitely gonna kick your Slytherin butts!"

"We'll see about that," Reina scoffed. "At least that means classes for tomorrow are canceled."

"No History of Magic!" Kira cheered, punching the air. Reina laughed.

As the sisters entered the Great Hall, Reina felt someone tap her lightly on the shoulder. Motioning for Kira to go ahead, she turned to find none other than Ginny Weasley beckoning her. Reina hesitated as her instinctive Slytherin suspicion kicked in, before moving to stand beside the red-head just outside the entrance.

"What is it?" Reina asked moodily.

"I was thinking about this after you helped me out earlier, and then I heard about what happened in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class…" Ginny said in a rush.

"Get to the point," Reina interrupted impatiently.

"There's this sort of club that's sort of against what Umbridge is doing and her teaching methods," the fourth year explained, "and I wanted to know if you wanted to attend the next meeting. I mean from what I can tell, you really don't like her."

"I'm not interested," Reina said and turned to go sit down.

"If you change your mind," Ginny persisted, "just come tell me."

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Reina took a seat beside Blaise at the Slytherin table. To her surprise, he was talking animatedly with Malfoy who was sitting across from him.

"Okay, now I'm shocked," Reina said interrupting their conversation. "This is the second time today that the Slytherin Prince has honored us with his presence."

Malfoy cocked an eyebrow serving himself a bit of ham and baked potatoes. "I find that it's been a lot easier lately to get away from Pansy."

"I guess Kira found you in the library then," Blaise said putting an arm around Reina's shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Yeah," Malfoy chimed in," you missed lunch, Charms, and History of Magic."

Reina sighed as she let her long raven hair loose from its hair tie. "It took awhile for me to calm down," she explained emotionlessly. "By the time I did, I just wasn't up to going to class. So I chose to stay in the library instead."

"Good guess, Zabini," Malfoy congratulated.

"I take it you were the one who told Kira something happened in class," Reina directed at Blaise, though not angrily.

"I only told her where to find you," Blaise corrected. "It was Pansy who gave her an idea of what happened…among other things."

"Speaking of which," Reina said disregarding the final part of Blaise's explanation, "where is the little toad?"

At this Malfoy smiled mischievously. "In the hospital wing with a broken nose."

"What?!"

"Kira punched her," Blaise elaborated.

"She did?" Reina was stunned but pleased.

"It's a moment I plan on cherishing for the rest of my life," Malfoy confirmed happily. Turning serious he said, "I think Umbridge said something about this morning to the old coot because he interrupted Binn's class to ask about what happened."

Reina frowned. Dumbledore being told definitely wasn't good. "Don't look now," Blaise commented grimly, "but Snape's coming this way and he doesn't look happy."

Malfoy expression became indifferent and Reina groaned as Snape arrived. "Come with me, Miss Summers," he commanded. Reina flinched at his angry tone.

_Just great_ she thought as she moved to follow her head of house. Glancing over at the Gryffindor table, Reina saw Kira watching her with worried eyes. She shrugged at her concerned sister as she continued to follow Snape. He led her through the door that led to a back room which had been used by the Triwizard Champions the previous year.

Reina watched as Snape closed the door. When she turned around, she found none other than Dumbledore and a smug Umbridge standing a few feet in front of her. Reina inclined her head politely in Dumbledore's direction. "Headmaster." He nodded back with twinkling eyes, either missing or ignoring the absence of a greeting towards Umbridge.

"Now," he began, getting straight to the point, "I know you must be hungry so I won't keep you long. It's come to my attention that a confrontation occurred between you and Professor Umbridge this morning during class."

Reina just nodded in confirmation. "If you would be so kind as to explain what happened, Professor," Dumbledore said to Umbridge.

The impish woman pursed her lips and stood straighter before beginning. "Well, I assigned a simple essay on the reasons behind the ban on various dark arts," she said tartly. "It's quite a simple assignment really; I've had no problem in any other–"

"To the point if you please," Snape growled. Reina realized that his anger and irritation were directed not at her, but at Umbridge.

Umbridge huffed but continued her account. "Yes, well…Miss Summers turned her essay in and I began reading it. As I read, I realized that she seemed to know much more about the dark arts than a normal student should. And as a concerned teacher–"

Reina snorted derisively.

Umbridge's eyes narrowed but she continued. "As a concerned teacher I simply asked her where she had acquired such information."

"You asked if my mother had taught me the dark arts!" Reina lashed out. Snape's gentle hand on her shoulder silently warned her to keep her temper in check. "Sorry," Reina apologized, although it was meant more for Dumbledore than Umbridge.

Umbridge then continued in a sickly sweet voice, "Miss Summers then proceeded to have a bit of a tantrum, even going so far as to take out her wand and threaten me."

Screw controlling her temper. "With all do respect, headmaster," Reina growled, "this woman said I was trying to imitate my father, who is a Death Eater as you are well aware! I didn't threaten her, I used a simple summoning charm on my bag and turned around and left the room. Meanwhile, this _**hag**_all but directly accused me of being a Death Eater!!" Reina stopped, taking deep breaths to calm herself down as Dumbledore sat, eyes still twinkling beneath his half moon spectacles.

"Headmaster," Umbridge said sweetly after a moment, "I'm sure that Miss Parkinson could tell you what happened if you wish for another's view on the matter."

"Dolores," Dumbledore finally chuckled, "asking Pansy or Reina to honestly recount an event that may get the other into trouble would be like asking Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy to trust their lives in each others hands. The rivalry and enmity is simply too great."

"But–"

"As it is," Dumbledore went on, "I took the liberty of questioning all the students who were present in the classroom at the time. All seemed to say the same thing and so I deem that it's safe to assume Miss Summers is not at fault. What she said was said in a rage fueled entirely and purposely by you."

The tone in his voice seemed to signal the end of the matter. "Miss Summers," Dumbledore said kindly, "thank you for your time. You may return to the Great Hall."

Turning, Reina caught a glimpse of the small glimmer of satisfaction in Snape's eyes.

As she made her way back to the Slytherin table, Reina maintained a smug look of triumph. She sat down wordlessly with Blaise and Malfoy.

"Well?" Blaise asked apprehensively.

"She got off clean," Malfoy answered for her.

"How do you know?" Blaise frowned, reminding Reina of a pouting child.

"Anyone who looks like she does right now obviously got of without incident," Malfoy explained patiently.

Just then, none other than Pansy came up behind the blonde, tugging at his arm. "Drakie Poo, let's head to the common room for some time to relax."

Malfoy grimaced. "The Great Hall is perfectly fine right now."

"But…"

"I have to bully a Hufflepuff into doing my transfiguration essay after dinner," Malfoy lied smoothly.

"I'll come with you then," Pansy whined.

"No, Pansy. I do not need you to come with me."

"_Drakie_–"

"No, Pansy!" Malfoy said forcefully.

Pansy huffed and stormed angrily from the hall.

Reina cocked an eyebrow at Malfoy. "I thought you would be more than happy to spend time with Pansy."

"It's nice to have an intelligent conversation once in awhile," Malfoy explained with a shrug.

"Whatever you say 'Drakie Poo'," Blaise said with a mocking grin.

Malfoy glared at Blaise as Reina laughed, proceeding to serve herself dinner.

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**Thanks again to SuGaRLiLy. And as for the rest of you readers...please review?**


	8. 6 Excitement and Regrets

**a/n: Yay me! Another update. Sorry about the hold up. I blame Hon. Pre-Calc and the fact that midterms are this week. But anyway, onward! **  


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Chapter 6: Excitement and Regrets

Reina woke up early the next morning. She looked at the clock above her headboard and groaned. It was only 5:30 am; the sun hadn't even risen yet. Shutting her eyes tightly, Reina pulled her emerald comforter over her head in an attempt to go back to sleep. After fifteen minutes of tossing and turning, she gave up. Pulling back the silver-lined black drapes, Reina got out of bed. Yawning, she twisted her hair up into a clip leaving some hair loose to frame her face. Throwing on a black hoodie and sweatpants as well as slipping on a pair of shoes, Reina slipped quietly out of the Slytherin common room.

She traveled quickly and silently through the dungeons although they were deserted at the present hour. Reina soon entered the main hall, but instead of heading for the main entrance she turned down a side hall and made for a statue of a mounted knight. Reina moved behind the knight and whispered "_Lumos_," before running her fingers softly along the cold stone wall. The sound of soft footsteps approaching caused her to quickly duck low behind the statue whispering a quick "_Nox_!" She remained still for a couple of minutes to be safe before relighting her wand and resuming her search.

Finally she found what she was searching for, a small hole in the wall about the size of her thumb. She used the thin end of her wand to press into the hole, causing a small section of the wall to slide silently away and reveal a short tunnel. Glancing around one last time, Reina entered the tunnel. A short walk brought her to the end of the tunnel, where a quick search exposed the trigger for the tunnel's exit.

The tunnel opened out onto a path that led directly to the Quidditch stadium. Reina followed the path silently to the stadium and upon arriving, she proceeded to climb to the very top of the Ravenclaw stands. Reaching her destination the garnet-eyed teen sat with her knees tucked up to her chin, watching in silent wonder as the sun began to rise gracefully over the grounds of Hogwarts, it's first rays bathing them in liquid gold.

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The smells of autumn and early morning dew assailed Blaise's senses as he traveled toward the Quidditch pitch. It was no wonder Reina had come out here, everything was so peaceful and calm. Looking up at the stands, Blaise spotted his raven-haired friend alone at the top. Climbing the stairs, he moved up and across the benches to sit beside Reina. "So…why are you up and out here so early?" Blaise asked quietly, so as not to shatter the peace.

Reina continued to watch the horizon but answered, "Dunno. I woke up about a half hour ago and then couldn't go back to sleep." She turned to look at him. "And what are _you_ doing up so early?"

"Hey, don't look at me like that," Blaise said defensively. "I'm always up this early. Normally, I just read a book or something for an hour or two."

"You're a messed up teenager, you know that?" Reina said chuckling.

"Yeah, yeah," replied Blaise, giving her shoulder a gentle shove. "I heard a sound in the common room this morning, and went to check it out. I heard the entrance shut and when I went to check the hall, there you were, prowling about."

Reina made and indignant face. "Slytherins don't prowl, we sneak." Blaise just rolled his eyes.

"My mistake."

A comfortable silence settled over the two as they watched the sun continue to creep over the horizon, painting the sky with pale blues and pinks. Blaise watched Reina from the corner of his eye as a distant bird sang to the new dawn. Her brow was creased in contemplation, her eyes distant and unfocused. "What are you brooding about?" he finally asked.

"I'm not brooding," she said defensively.

"Don't deny it," Blaise pushed. "If I can't tell by now when something's bothering you, then I don't deserve the title of best friend."

Reina laughed a bit at his persistence. As she gazed at the glowing horizon, a sad smile graced her lips. "Mum used to say that whether you can see it or not, the sun is always rising to signal a new day…another chance."

"You miss her a lot don't you?" Reina just nodded silently. "Is that really all that was bothering you?" Blaise asked with concern etched clearly on his face.

Reina opened her mouth to reply yes, but closed it almost immediately. Instead she responded, "In a few weeks, it will be November 24th." Blaise nodded in confirmation. "That will make it three months since mum was murdered," Reina explained, adding under her breath, "Which means I have less than two months left."

Blaise heard this and narrowed his eyes at her. "Left until what?"

Reina looked up slightly alarmed before turning to face Blaise, debating whether it was wise to tell him what was really bothering her. The need to share won out in the end and she proceeded to tell him about her father's promise to return in four months. She told him how she knew she could never agree and how she was afraid for Kira more than herself. "He wanted to kill her that night, but she was safely hidden at the time. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to her, especially if it's because Donovan was after me," she told him sadly.

Blaise embraced her. "I'm here for you, Reina," he said consolingly, "and so are the twins and Kira." Reina smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. Taking this as a good sign, Blaise continued. "You can't beat yourself up over this. I mean, it's not like you can apparate to Kira's side every time she's in trouble."

Garnet-amber eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. "Blaise, I think you just solved one of my problems!" Reina exclaimed. Her companion looked at her in confusion.

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later," Reina promised, "but right now we should head back inside. It's freezing out and I wouldn't want to miss today's Quidditch match for the world!" At this, she practically dragged him from the stands.

Halfway to the castle, Blaise regained his voice. "You know, the speed at which you can change moods is scary," he said. "What's the rush, anyway? The match isn't until later."

Reina laughed, replying, "I'm not in the mood to fight a bunch of Slytherin girls for the bathroom."

"Girls," Blaise mumbled shaking his head, earning a punch in the arm from Reina.

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The stands were packed with rowdy students as the entire school awaited the start of the match. Reina and Blaise cheered with the rest of their house as the Slytherin team took the pitch, although they didn't accompany them in "Weasley is Our King" when the Gryffindor team came out. The two had declined the badges earlier as well, though more out of consideration for Fred and George than for Ron himself.

The players took off as soon as Madam Hooch's whistle sounded. Gryffindor gained possession first, and Reina watched hopefully as Montague caught the Quaffle when the Gryffindor Chaser was hit with a Bludger. She and Blaise let out a groan, however, when Montague was also hit by a Bludger, courtesy of George Weasley, resulting in the loss of the Quaffle. Reina held her breath as the Gryffindor Chasers wove towards the Slytherin goal posts. The Slytherins let out a collective sigh as Bletchley made the save, tossing the Quaffle to Warrington.

Warrington sped down the pitch, zigzagging around players and ducking Bludgers as he carried the Quaffle down the field. Breaking through Gryffindor's last line of defense, Warrington hurtled toward the Gryffindor hoops with only Ron between him and ten points. He let the Quaffle fly. The Slytherin stands erupted as Ron missed the save.

Reina and Blaise watched as Katie Bell gained possession of the Quaffle, the sound of "Weasley is Our King" being sung all around them. The two friends cheered and groaned as Warrington took the Quaffle and passed it to Pucey who got hit by a Bludger from one of the Weasley twins, causing him to drop it. Bell attempted to possess the Quaffle but dropped it instead, causing Montague to gain possession. A swift pass to Pucey and Blaise and Reina were jumping up and down as he scored, making the score twenty-nil Slytherin.

Reina was tempted to cover her ears as the sound of "Weasley is Our King" rose to an almost deafening volume, the result of Ron letting in two more shots to make the score forty-nil Slytherin. "If this keeps up," Blaise shouted over the noise, "I'm gonna have to join in the song as well!"

Reina laughed and nodded. "Fred and George will just have to understand! Besides, they'd do the same if the song was about a Slytherin!"

Just then the Gryffindor stands erupted as Angelina Johnson scored to put the lions on the board, making the score forty-ten. Blaise cheered loudly beside Reina, waving a silver and green flag that he got from who knew where as Pucey gained possession of the Quaffle once more. He passed it to Warrington who sped ahead and passed back to Montague. Unfortunately, Angelina Johnson stole the Quaffle as Montague passed it to Pucey. She passed it off to Katie Bell on her right, but a well placed Bludger from Goyle allowed Pucey to grab the Quaffle. The Slytherin Chaser sped off towards the Gryffindor end, weaving left and right…

Out of the corner of her eye Reina saw two lone figures shooting towards the Slytherin hoops, one crimson and one emerald.

"They've seen the Snitch!" Reina yelled, tugging at Blaise's sleeve and pointing towards the racing figures.

Soon the whole stadium was holding its breath, as Harry and Malfoy raced after the small golden ball. They were neck and neck, and as the ground drew rapidly closer the two Seekers reached out…

"No!" Reina shouted in despair as the other three houses cheered loudly. Harry had once again caught the Snitch, leaving Malfoy to scrabble futilely at the back of his hand.

Many of the Slytherins were groaning in defeat as Gryffindor students rushed to get onto the field to congratulate their team when Crabbe whacked a Bludger at Harry, knocking him off his broom. Cries of outrage erupted from the Gryffindors, and Reina could see Kira and Hermione trying to shove their way onto the field. From what she could see though, Harry was fine.

"This can't be good," she heard Blaise mutter beside her. Following his gaze, Reina saw a furious Draco Malfoy moving towards Harry, Fred, and George.

"Crap," she muttered and began shoving through the sea of green. _I have to get down there before the four of them do something really stupid_ Reina thought to herself. Finally emerging onto the pitch, she heard Malfoy say something rude to Harry and the twins. Before anyone knew what was happening, Harry and George were on top of Malfoy, fists flying.

It wasn't until after Madam Hooch had separated the three boys and Harry and George were sent to the castle that Reina acted. Moving quickly forward, Reina moved to help the now whimpering Malfoy. Closer inspection revealed that he was fine save for multiple bruises, a bloody nose, and his wounded pride. Rolling her eyes at his theatrics, Reina grabbed Malfoy's arm to help him up.

"Quit being such a baby, Malfoy," she snapped in irritation. "Suck it up!" The blonde surprisingly bit back his retort as he realized who was helping him, choosing instead to silently comply.

"You're such an idiot!" Reina said through gritted teeth. "You just couldn't keep your bloody mouth shut could you?!"

Scowling and wiping some of the blood from his nose, Draco was about to reply when his arm was grabbed roughly by Montague. The Slytherin captain did not look happy as he shoved Malfoy in the direction of the locker rooms, leaving Reina behind.

Blaise joined Reina and watched as Draco was hustled away. "I guess we should head back to the common room," he said once the two were out of site. Reina shook her head.

"You go on ahead," she told him. "I'm not finished with Malfoy just yet."

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"What the bloody hell were you thinking?!" Reina yelled at Draco as he emerged from the locker room, making him jump in surprise. "You had no reason to provoke Harry and the twins!"

Draco shrugged as he walked towards the castle with Reina at his heels. "Taunting Potter and the Weasleys is entertaining," Malfoy sneered. "They're so predictable."

"I can't believe how much of a sore loser you are Malfoy," Reina growled.

Draco looked indignant. "I fail to see why you're so worked up about this. All that will happen to them is they'll get detention and loose loads of points for Gryffindor…again."

"You don't know that for sure!" Reina persisted, although her anger was starting to die down to irritation. "You provoked them into hitting you in front of the entire student body and staff for Merlin's sake!"

"Calm down, Summers," Draco tried. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"You better hope the answer to that is detention, Malfoy," Reina said pinching the bridge of her nose.

It wasn't until they entered the main entrance hall that Reina realized that Malfoy was pretty bruised up. She sighed heavily, causing Draco to look at her.

"What?"

"We should probably head up to the Hospital Wing before going back to the common room," Reina explained. "You look like you just got trampled by a centaur."

"Feels more like a herd of hippogriffs," Draco muttered.

"Serves you right though, doesn't it?" Reina pointed out smugly.

"Whatever."

The two Slytherin fifth years headed down the hall in the opposite direction of the dungeons. As they passed the Transfiguration classroom, the two froze as they heard "Hem, hem…Educational Decree number 25…"

They backed up slowly, silently putting their ears against the classroom door. They listened intently as Umbridge read another of her absurd and tyrannical decrees. Each word boded ill but neither student showed any emotion as they heard McGonagall huff in irritation. It seemed as if this was where Harry and George had been sent after the match.

Their thoughts were soon confirmed as they heard Umbridge finish reading and say, "So…I really think I will have to ban these two from playing Quidditch ever again."

Reina couldn't believe what she had just heard. A quick glance at Draco revealed him to be staring at the door in open shock and horror. The sound of a stunned Harry speaking brought Reina's attention back to the conversation within the classroom.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, I think a lifelong ban ought to do the trick," Umbridge's sickly sweet voice answered. "You _and_ Mr. Weasley here. And I think, to be safe, this young man's twin ought to be stopped too––"

Draco pulled back as if he'd been slapped and began heading down the hall, away from the transfiguration room. Reina followed, her previous anger now resurfacing, although now it was directed at Umbridge as well. The pair walked swiftly in a tense silence, heading up towards the Hospital Wing. Up and through the many steps and halls of Hogwarts they went, Draco silent as stone and Reina doing her best to hold back her fury. Just as they were about to turn the corner to ascend to the Hospital Wing, Reina grabbed Draco's arm and forced him to look at her.

"Are you happy now?!" she yelled, not caring if anyone heard her. "Now you don't have to worry about Harry beating you at Quidditch do you?!"

Instead of some cocky or smart alack come back, Draco turned his head, unable to meet Reina's smoldering gaze. "I didn't think–"

"You're right, you didn't think Malfoy!" Reina hissed, shoving the blonde against the wall. "If you had just accepted the loss with dignity for once in your life, Harry, Fred, and George wouldn't be banned from quidditch for the rest of their lives!"

Now Draco looked angry. "I didn't want this to happen!" he yelled. "I can't finally beat Potter at quidditch if he's banned for life!"

"Is that**all** you care about, Draco? _Winning_?" Reina asked in disbelief.

"I'm a–"

"Don't you _dare_ say it's because you're a Malfoy, or Merlin help me I will hex you into oblivion!!" Reina warned.

Draco didn't have a response to that.

"Argh!" Reina growled in frustration before turning and heading down to the Slytherin common room, leaving Draco standing flustered and alone at the bottom of the Hospital Wing steps.


	9. 7 Choices and Discoveries

**a/n: Don't really have anything to say except sorry for the wait. It makes me sad that no one reviews, but I guess beggers can't be choosers.**

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Chapter 7: Choices and Discoveries

The next morning found Reina sitting in the Great Hall alone, poking dejectedly at a small plate of bacon. Although she didn't know Harry like Kira did, Reina wasn't blind. She could see how happy flying made Harry and the way Fred and George, despite their constant griping, adored the game. To know that they had been banned from flying for life because Malfoy couldn't keep his mouth shut made her feel sick.

Reina nearly had a heart attack as someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Whipping around, Reina saw that it was not Blaise as she had expected from the gentle touch.

"Dammit, Malfoy! You could at least warn me before taking a couple years off my life," Reina said, breathing slowly in an attempt to get her heart rate back to normal.

"My apologies," Draco amended. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Reina sighed. "What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked, using his last name to indicate that she was still mad at him.

Sitting down in the seat to her right Draco replied, "I meant it when I said that I didn't want them to get banned from Quidditch."

"For life," Reina reminded him.

It was Draco's turn to sigh. "I really do want to beat Potter," Draco said, but plowed on quickly at the look Reina gave him. "But the reason I want to beat him at Quidditch is because it's based on our skill, not who our family is or what side we're going to be on in a war."

"In _this_ war, not a war," Reina corrected firmly. "If I am going to be communicating with you at all, then first thing's first. You may not like _the great_ Harry Potter, but I will not let you delude yourself into thinking what he and Dumbledore told the school last year was a lie." Reina rubbed her temple and sighed, something that was becoming a bit of a habit. "There is indeed a war going on, my mother's death is concrete proof of that. Not to mention the extreme measures the Ministry is taking to portray Potter and the headmaster as a couple of raving lunatics."

"Not hard to believe," Draco muttered under his breath. Reina shot him a dark look but did not comment on it.

"If Fudge isn't going to acknowledge the truth when it dances in front of his face," she ranted, "then he better be ready to take responsibility for the deaths that will result from people's ignorance."

"So…does this mean you're not mad at me anymore?" Draco questioned slowly.

"Oh I'm still _very_ mad at you," the raven-haired Slytherin clarified. "But maybe if you refrain from saying or doing anything stupid, I may give you a chance to get back on my good side."

Malfoy mulled over her semi-encouraging words as Blaise walked in with a sullen Fred and George. Giving both twins a comforting clap on the back, the tall dark-skinned Slytherin made his way over to Reina.

"How are the twins?" Reina asked with concern as Blaise sat down to her left.

"As well as can be expected, seeing as they've been banned for life," he told her, shooting a withering glare in Malfoy's direction. "They said Potter took it the worst though. Said they've never seen him this upset, with the exception of Cedric's death." Another pointed look at Malfoy.

"Something you want to say, Zabini?" Draco asked in annoyance.

"Yeah Malfoy, there is," Blaise said, rising from his seat. "This entire thing is your fault! If you had kept your bloody mouth shut, everything would be just fine right now!"

Reina stood, quickly placing a hand on Blaise's chest to keep him from getting within reach of Malfoy. "For the last time," Malfoy growled, "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Why should we believe you?" Blaise growled back. "You've hated every Gryffindor since first year, especially Potter."

"Leave it Blaise," she urged as she spotted McGonagall eying them from the teacher's table. "As long as he learns from his mistake all we can do is move on."

Malfoy opened his mouth to thank her for understanding when he finally noticed the multiple Slytherins who were observing their little altercation. He debated with himself, be grateful and show Reina he was being sincere or uphold his icy self-assured facade? In less than a second he'd made his choice.

"I shouldn't even be explaining myself to the likes of you two," Draco scoffed. "And I didn't make a mistake. A Malfoy never makes mistakes."

Blaise glared at him even more as Reina stared, the shock and hurt evident in her garnet-amber eyes. These emotions lasted only a few seconds before being replaced by anger. Malfoy flinched at the look but did not go back on his statement, instead adding, "Potter and the Weasel twins deserved what they got."

A resounding slap echoed through the Great Hall, drawing all eyes to the Slytherin table including those of Crabbe and Goyle who had just entered. Draco held his cheek where Reina's palm had made contact, silvery eyes flickering from surprise to humiliation to anger.

"I am sick and tired of defending you and then having you turn around and throw it back in my face, Malfoy!" Reina raged. "If you want to be your father then so be it, but know that you're nothing but a selfish arrogant git!"

Without another word she made to leave the Great Hall, ignoring the stares of the students who had attended breakfast.

Blaise lingered a moment longer, now a bit calmer since someone had hit Malfoy despite his own desire to do so. "Congratulations, Malfoy. You've just successfully pushed away probably the only person to offer you sincere friendship with no strings attached," he said in mock praise. "I don't know why she tried so hard to begin with, but she offered her friendship and you threw it back in her face like it was worthless, like _she_ was worthless! If hurting others is all a Malfoy is capable of, then I pity you."

Blaise didn't wait for Malfoy's response as he moved to catch up with Reina. Crabbe and Goyle, having snapped out of their stupor, were heading menacingly towards Reina from the opposite direction. As she neared at the end of the aisle, they stood blocking her way. "Get out of my way," the infuriated Slytherin demanded as Blaise arrived by her side.

The two brainless body guards just cracked their knuckles, as if preparing to beat her and Blaise to a pulp. Before they could do anything Malfoy's flunkies found themselves with the Weasley twins' wands pointed at them from the side. It seemed that Fred and George had sprung into action as soon as they noticed the two idiots heading towards their friend. "Move," Fred ordered seriously.

"Otherwise we'll turn you into mice for Mrs. Norris," George threatened, the glint in his eye telling them he meant business.

Crabbe and Goyle grudgingly moved aside as Reina shoved past them with a brief nod of thanks to the twins, Blaise once again rushing to follow.

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"I can't believe him!"

"I don't know what else you expected, mate," Blaise told Reina, attempting to console her.

"He's so…so…indecisive!" she went on. "One second he's comforting me and hanging out with us like we're all friends, then he's getting a bunch of people in trouble. Then he goes and tries to apologize, well sort off, and the next second he starts acting like some pompous arse!"

"His reputation is more important, Reina, although I give you credit for trying," Blaise input, sitting on a boulder nearby. She had marched them all the way to the edge of the lake.

"Ugh! It's just so frustrating!"

"You know if I didn't know any better," Blaise speculated, "I'd think you fancy the Slytherin Prince." The glare Reina gave him threatened serious bodily harm. "Or not," Blaise amended.

"So what was it that you were so excited about before the match yesterday?" he said changing the subject.

"What do you mean?" Reina asked, now marginally calmer.

"Well apparently I 'solved your problem' with something I said," Blaise reminded. "Whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Oh right! I almost forgot. It's about Kira," Reina explained. "I figured out a way to be able to get to her if she was ever in trouble, even if she's far away."

"And this idea is…?"

"I was getting to that," Reina scolded lightly. "We both know it's impossible to always keep an eye on her, right? And apparating is out of the question as well, correct?"

Blaise nodded the affirmative to both questions.

"So I was thinking that maybe there's a charm or something that can be put on a normal object, like a necklace or something." At this point, Blaise watched his best friend as she began to pace side to side. "Of course, I would have to find an object to enchant that she would actually have on her at all times."

"Why not just tell her what it's for?" Blaise suggested.

"I can't," she told him, "she'd just think I was being paranoid."

"Have you told her about _any_ of the stuff that's been bothering you lately?"

Reina stopped pacing for a moment. "Well…no. She'd probably say that I'm overreacting and then start saying something about how Trelawney's corrupting my mind," she admitted a bit guiltily. Blaise just shook his head and sighed. "But anyway, if I do find something then I'll probably have to get one of the teachers to help me with the spell, seeing as I don't know of any."

"Reina?"

"And I'd have to-"

"Reina."

"Maybe he could-"

"Reina Selene Summers!"

Reina stopped. "Who told you my middle name?"

"Uh," Blaise hesitated, "your sister?"

"Figures," she said, rolling her eyes. "So what do you want?"

"I just wanted to let you know that there's a Hogsmeade trip set for next weekend," he informed her. "You can look for a necklace or something there."

The dark-eyed Slytherin was unprepared for the sudden hug that came his way, subsequently knocking him off balance and sending them both to the ground.

"You're the best, you know that?" Reina said smiling down at him.

"It's nice to see you smile again," Blaise commented breathlessly, "but could get off of me now? I can't really breathe."

"Oh, sorry," Reina laughed. "My mistake."

"Yeah," was his only response as he rubbed his back. That was going to hurt later.

––––––––––––––––––**A Week Later**–––––––––––––––––––

The following Sunday found the two Slytherin companions sitting in a corner of The Three Broomsticks, each sipping large mugs of steaming butterbeer. The previous week had been a blur compared to the one before it. After all of the problems with Trelawney, Umbridge, and Malfoy the normal week that had followed had been a sort of shock to Reina. Fred and George had stopped to congratulate her multiple times during the week for the episode in the Great Hall. Although she didn't regret what she'd said or done, she couldn't help feeling a twinge of disappointment every time she saw Malfoy. He had returned to being the self-centered Prince of Slytherin that had walked the halls of Hogwarts since they'd all arrived their first year, Pansy clinging to him once more. His quick change in attitude had made Reina feel like the brief moments of good that she and Blaise had seen were all a lie. The oh-so-smug looks that Pansy kept shooting her way were only solidifying that feeling.

"Reina, you're brooding again," Blaise told her, waving a hand in front of her face to break her from her reverie. "You really need to stop zoning out like that…What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing," Reina mumbled not wanting to face another comment about being obsessed with a certain blond prat. No such luck.

"I think after all these years," Blaise commented slyly, "you're finally falling for Malfoy, just like every other Slytherin girl, and probably even a few blokes."

"I'm not 'falling for Malfoy' as you put it," Reina defended, "I'm just trying to figure out how he can be decent one minute and a total arse the next."

"He's a Malfoy," Blaise pointed out. "Enough said."

Reina shrugged and chugged down the rest of her butterbeer. "And for the record," she said, "'every other Slytherin girl' is only interested in having him sleep with and potentially marry them. All they care about is his family's money and status."

Finishing off his butterbeer as well, Blaise decided to change the subject. "So where are we going now?"

"There aren't many other places to look, really," Reina thought out loud. "We've been to Gladrags Wizardwear, Zonko's, Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, and Honeydukes and we _still_ haven't found anything to use for Kira's gift!"

"At least there were sales on eagle feather quills and packs of pumpkin pasties," Blaise reminded. "Besides, there's still one more Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas, so we could always try again then."

Reina shook her head. "That's cutting it too close, and I don't know how long it will take for one of the teachers to enchant whatever it is," she explained. "I don't even know what spell to use."

"Well, there is this small shop Fred told me about last year," her dark-skinned companion mentioned. "He said he got a bracelet or something for Angelina there. I think it was Madam Diamanda's Regalia."

Reina stood and grabbed her bag, as did Blaise though he had quite a few more. "It's worth a shot."

The Slytherin pair left the warmth of The Three Broomsticks, flinching as a bitter cold wind greeted their exit. Wrapping their green and silver scarves snugly and clutching their bags tighter, the two made their way down Hogsmeade's main street. Heading past Honeydukes and Zonko's they made a left on the side street by Scrivenshaft's, Blaise leading the way.

"Blaise, you know I care about you," Reina piped up, "but it's purely platonic."

"Likewise," Blaise responded easily.

"Then why are we heading towards Madam Puddifoot's?"

"Not Madam Puddifoot's," Blaise corrected, stopping. He turned to his right and pointed. "Madam Diamanda's Regalia."

It was then that Reina saw the sparkling silver sign hanging in front of a quaint looking building. It appeared at first as if it were merely a small cottage that is, until you saw the display window. Even from the outside, Reina could see many pieces of fine jewelry winking at her from the window where they sat in their entire sparkling splendor.

"Um…Blaise?"

"Yeah?"

"Did Fred say how much he paid for Angelina's gift?" Reina asked a note of concern in her voice.

"Uh," Blaise hesitated. "He didn't really say."

"Blaise…" Reina groaned.

"It won't hurt to at least look," Blaise advised. Without further delay, the two made their way into the shop.

Reina immediately felt herself relax as they entered the picturesque shop. It was comfortably warm inside and the faint scent of jasmine seemed to filter through the air, creating a soothing affect. Reina made for a section full of bracelets and necklaces. There were many breathtaking pieces made of onyx, ruby, emerald, topaz, and of course diamonds. One necklace was a band of star-shaped sapphires that glittered in the rays of autumn sunlight streaming through the window. As beautiful as the jewelry was, Reina found the pieces too fancy for her sister, not to mention how much they cost.

Much of the store was the same, breathtaking pieces, but not fit for Reina's needs. Giving up hope, Reina browsed the shop absentmindedly, having lost track of Blaise for the moment. She was glancing at the various ornaments in the counter at the back when a blue shimmer caught her eye. Stopping to get a closer look, Reina's garnet-amber eyes widened. There sat a simple teardrop shaped pendant made of a beautiful sterling silver. The pendant was a ring in the shape of a thumb-sized teardrop. Dangling in the center of the ring was a beautiful pale blue stone, with the entire pendant held by a thin cord of silver instead of a silver link chain.

"A fine piece, that one," said a tinkling voice. Reina looked up to see a small woman behind the counter. "I am Madam Diamanda," the woman introduced. "You look familiar, dear. Have we met?"

"No," Reina responded, "I'm just looking for a gift for my sister."

Madam Diamanda was a small woman, a couple inches shorter than Reina's 5' 6". She had strawberry blond hair that was gently wavy and did not go past the nape of her neck, framing her face in a friendly manner. Her soft brown eyes brought to Reina's mind the image of a kind and gentle aunt that she wished she'd had.

"The stone in that pendant is raw aquamarine," Madam Diamanda explained, removing the necklace and placing it on the counter. "It enhances a person's compassion, faith, harmony, and friendship. It is also known to create a strong bond between the wearer and another person, a bond severed only by death."

"Sounds perfect, Reina" Blaise said from behind Reina, causing her to jump in surprise. "How much is it?"

"This one is 30 galleons and 15 sickles," Madam Diamanda informed them kindly.

Reina balked and turned to Blaise. "I can't afford that! Not right now anyway. Everything mum left us needs to last through the next two years or until Kira and I can get jobs."

"Not to put a damper on things but, even if you could" Blaise pointed out, "how would you activate the spell from your end?"

Reina thought about that for a second, her mood plummeting further as she came up with the only solution. "I'd need one as well." Reina wanted to bang her head against the counter.

"Kira and Reina did you say, dears?" Madam Diamanda asked from behind them. Reina turned. "Your last name wouldn't happen to be Summers, would it?"

"It is," Reina responded warily.

"Merlin's beard! I _knew_ I recognized you, I'd know those eyes anywhere!" the woman exclaimed. "Why, it's been ages since I last saw you! Back then you were both tiny infants in Isabella's arms."

Reina blinked in surprise as her heart stopped. "You knew my mother?" she whispered.

"Izzy and I were best friends when we attended Hogwarts," Madam Diamanda reminisced. "We were both in the same year, different houses. I was a Ravenclaw."

"I didn't know she had a friend in Ravenclaw," Reina said. "She didn't talk much about her school days."

"We lost contact after you and your sister were born, with You-Know-Who running amuck and all," Madam Diamanda explained. Her voice took on a sad note as she said, "I am truly sorry for your loss. Izzy was a dear friend. But what's this about a spell?"

After debating a bit Reina answered, "It's so Kira and I can reach each other at all times. But I'd need another pendant, and I can't even afford one as it is."

Madam Diamanda thought for a moment before brightening. Reina and Blaise watched as she moved farther down along the display case, reaching in to pick something out. Returning to where she'd left the two Slytherin fifth years, Madam Diamanda laid another necklace beside the aquamarine one she'd shown Reina. It was exactly the same in design and shape, save for a deep amethyst stone in place of the aquamarine.

"It's beautiful," Reina whispered.

"This is the sister necklace to the aquamarine pendant," Madam Diamanda told her. "The amethyst stone is said to remove negativity and fear of failure when called upon, giving the wearer strength and a positive energy to lead to success."

"They're both gorgeous," Reina admitted looking down, "but I don't have the money."

"I'll tell you what, dear," Madam Diamanda said gently lifting Reina's chin so their eyes met. "As a favor to Izzy, because I know she would wish for you both to be safe more than anything, I'll give you the two pendants."

Reina was shocked. "I couldn't–"

"It's alright, luv," Madam Diamanda reassured. "If you really wish to repay me, you may do so by stopping in every once in a while when you're in the area."

Madam Diamanda took the two pendants placing them in individual velvet boxes, before putting them in a small bag and giving it to a dazed Reina. "I-I don't know what to say," Reina stuttered as Blaise stood beside her for support.

"You're welcome, dear," Madam Diamanda said with a gentle smile. "It's the least I could do for dear Isabella."

"Thank you," Reina whispered, and she and Blaise turned to leave.

As they turned onto the main street of Hogsmeade, they heard Madam Diamanda call from the door of the shop, "Don't forget to stop by another time!"

"I will!" Reina assured, waving goodbye to her mother's best friend before turning to catch up with Blaise.

"I haven't seen you smile like that since we were sorted," he commented as they made their way back to Hogwarts with the rest of the returning student body.

Reina just shrugged, the smile never leaving her face. "I guess I'm just glad to know that there's someone else out there who's almost like family."


	10. 8 Taking Chances

Chapter 8:

Chapter 8: Taking Chances

Monday morning saw Reina standing at the entrance to the owlery, rereading her letter to the headmaster one more time. She had chosen to ask the headmaster himself about the spell for a few reasons. The first was that she was positive that Dumbledore would be the most understanding of all of the staff members. He was well aware of what she and Kira had gone through over the summer, and she also had the feeling that the old wizard would understand her reasons behind the request. The second was that Reina was not naïve. She was quite certain that Dumbledore did not adhere to Ministry rules and regulations nearly as strictly as he let on. If that was the case, then Harry would not have achieved half the extraordinary feats that he already had in school and Umbridge would pretty much run the school. Her final reason was obvious. If anyone could figure out and perform a spell like the one she needed, Albus Dumbledore could. And he could probably do it faster than most.

Satisfied with the contents of her letter, Reina sealed it in a simple envelope and attached it to the package she had with her containing the two pendants. Entering the owlery, Reina was met with the irritated screeching of cranky owls. Many were school owls, but she spotted who she was looking for in the far left corner of the small tower. Watching her step so as to avoid tripping, Reina made her way over to Tobias. She stroked his peppered feathers gently, remembering all the times she used to come up here to have him deliver letters to her mother. Tobias hooted quietly as if he knew what she was thinking, nipping her finger affectionately in reassurance. Reina smiled and tied the package to his extended talon, stroking him one last time before stepping back and watching him take flight in what she guessed was the direction of the headmaster's office.

--

"Why didn't you just give the necklaces to him in person?" Blaise asked his friend during potions later that morning.

"Because I did not want to explain everything in person," Reina replied calmly glancing at the classroom door. Snape would be there any minute to begin another irksome session of double potions with the Gryffindors.

"Why?" Blaise prodded.

"I just didn't," Reina said in exasperation. Blaise backed off as Snape glided silently into the room. Reina heard Pansy's sickening giggle from the back of the room but didn't turn to investigate. Upon hearing her name and something about a bad hair day, Reina turned to glare at Pansy.

"I knew it," Reina muttered when she'd turned to face the front once more.

"Knew what?" Blaise asked softly.

"My hairbrush was missing this morning," she told him inaudibly. "Pansy must have taken it last night."

"Your hair looks fine to me."

"That, my dear Blaise," Reina whispered with a small smile, "is what separates me from muggles."

"A hairbrush?"

Reina laughed quietly. "No, having magic."

"Today you will all brew me a Befuddlement Draught," Snape announced, his emphasis on "attempt" telling Reina exactly what her house head thought of the Gryffindors' chances of success. Judging by the "humph" from directly behind her, Kira picked up on it as well.

"Maybe we'd pass if he stopped teaching," Ron whispered, earning a glare from Hermione.

"Since I have no desire to grade such a large quantity of certain students' poor excuses for potions this time around," Snape continued menacingly, "I will be pairing all of you incompetent Gryffindors with a more proficient student from my house."

Cries of outrage and protest erupted from the mouths of Slytherins and Gryffindors alike. The Gryffindors could not stand the idea of working with a Slytherin who would sooner push them into the cauldron by "mistake", at least, that's what they thought. Many Slytherins felt the same way, although some including Reina were more concerned about their grade; Snape's enmity toward Gryffindors was a secret to no one.

"Silence!" The effect was instantaneous, as each voice in the room cut off. "Now, when I pair you, you will obtain your materials and begin _immediately_." Sneering, Snape proceeded to assign partners. Groans were heard constantly as he ran down the list, while those waiting silently prayed for mercy.

"Longbottem, Zabini." Reina watched as Blaise proceeded to tell Neville quite forcefully not to touch anything.

"Crabbe, Weasley." Hermione gave Ron a sympathetic pat as Crabbe rose and headed to an empty station, cracking his knuckles as he went.

"Summers, Parkinson." Both sisters tensed simultaneously, praying that he meant the other. _Not Pansy_ they both thought. Seeing the tension and understanding the confusion Snape specified, "Kira Summers."

Reina sighed in relief as Kira groaned in defeat, Harry laughing quietly at Kira's plight.

"Potter and Malfoy," Snape drawled, effectively silencing Harry's mirth.

"But professor–"

"Five points from Gryffindor for your impertinence, Mr. Potter."

"Keep it up, Potter," Malfoy said, coming up behind Harry. "Just stay out of my way."

Reina kept staring straight at Professor Snape, not wanting to see who was left, although she had a pretty good idea.

"Reina Summers and Miss Granger." Reina let her head drop to the table with a quiet thump. _She hates my guts_ Reina thought miserably. _Well, at least we can't fail this assignment._

"I'll get the materials," she heard Hermione say tartly. Reina just waved a hand to show that she heard.

Hearing shuffling behind and beside her, Reina lifted her head…and almost slammed it back down. Kira was still behind her, but Pansy had joined her with a look that said she would rather kiss a flobberworm. To her left, Reina saw that Malfoy had stationed himself and Harry right next to her station. She was stuck partnered with a know-it-all that hated her, and she was within an arms length of the two people that she really couldn't stand to be around right now. _There is no _way_ that this can get any worse_ she thought dejectedly.

Hermione returned to place two cutting knives, the ingredients, and the rest of the materials they would need in the center of their table. "Look," Hermione said before they began, "I take my grade seriously. So as long as we focus getting this potion done, there won't be a problem between us."

The Slytherin in Reina refused to let the Gryffindor genius have the last word. "My turn," she said matter-of-factly. "Even if I am a Slytherin, you don't have to act like I'm going to turn around and hex you without warning. I care about this grade just as much as you do."

Reina spotted Malfoy smirking over Hermione's shoulder. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

Harry snorted. "Problem, Potter?" Malfoy snapped. Reina, Kira, and Hermione all shook their heads before turning to their potions.

…………

Reina gave a small sigh of relief as the double period neared its end. She and Hermione had just finished brewing their potion. The entire process had gone along smoothly, with only a few glares passed between them on occasion. To the right of them, however, Harry and Draco were constantly arguing, making both girls wonder how the two had even managed to complete the potion. A quick glance back told Reina that her sister _had_ in fact managed to both brew the assigned potion and refrain from knocking Pansy unconscious. The little toad had been trying to goad Kira into a fight the whole time. Garnet-amber eyes drifted towards Blaise near the back of the room. Catching her watching, Blaise wiped imaginary sweat from his brow in a gesture of relief, causing Reina to laugh softly. Blaise had commanded Neville to sit back and observe only after the boy had caused a small explosion, Merlin only knew how. It was surprising but everyone had gotten through this grueling potions lesson.

Hermione cleared her throat, getting Reina's attention. Reina turned, giving the brunette one of her disparaging what-do-you-want-now looks. "Here," the Gryffindor said handing Reina a small glass vial. "Give this sample to Professor Snape."

Reina glared. "I have no intention of taking orders," she made clear, "but I'll let it slide this once, seeing as I want to finish up just as bad as you do."

Hermione hmphed as Reina's right hand snatched the sample vial. Turning around, Reina made her way to the front of the room. Before she had even made it half way there, Reina felt a searing pain in her right hand, causing her to gasp in pain and release the vial not even noticing as it shattered on the cold dungeon floor. It was a couple of minutes before the pain receded enough could Reina stop cradling her injured hand. Looking to see what had caused her such pain, Reina's eyes widened in horror. There fading quickly were the blood red words _Death Eater_.

"What are you doing?!" Hermione exclaimed angrily coming up behind her. Reina quickly hid her hand in the sleeve of her robe, hoping that no one would see the vicious red words that were now quickly fading.

"Nothing," Reina replied flinching at how small her voice sounded. "It just slipped, that's all." _Get it together, Rei_ the raven-haired Slytherin reprimanded herself. She shakily made her way back to her station after obtaining another glass vial, ignoring the feeling of her classmates' stares. She loathed being the center of attention, and everything seemed to happen to her. She was like some magnet for trouble. Reina caught Kira's worried gaze and immediately looked away, not wanting her sister to see just how shaken up she was.

Reina turned to the cauldron that contained her and Hermione's potion. "Reina, are you alright?" came a smooth concerned voice.

Reina looked at Malfoy, coldly responding, "I'm fine." She returned her gaze to the cauldron in front of her stirring the contents briefly before getting ready to poor some into the new vial. "Not like it matters to a prat like you, anyway," she muttered under her breath.

The blond opened his mouth to object when the ladle clattered to the table, Reina letting out a pained gasp. The searing pain had returned and, forgetting about Malfoy's presence, she lifted her sleeve, revealing the same two words…_Death Eater_.

The glint of red on her skin caught Draco's eye. "Reina, you're bleeding!" he exclaimed. Reina began to panic as Malfoy moved to grab her right hand.

"It's nothing," she assured him, moving her hand out of reach. "It's just a scratch, really!"

Malfoy sighed in exasperation. "Just let me see your hand," he commanded grabbing hold of her wrist and lifting her sleeve.

"Get your hands off of her, Malfoy," Kira growled from behind them.

Malfoy ignored her and turned to examine Reina's hand. The raven-haired girl gave a mental sigh of relief as she saw that the words had faded once more, leaving nothing but a slightly red area on the back of her hand. "See, Malfoy. Nothing," she told him smugly, trying and failing to escape his grasp.

"Malfoy, you have three seconds to get off of my sister," Kira warned.

The blond continued to inspect the irritated area on Reina's hand.

"Three–"

Blaise gave Reina a questioning look from his station, but she just shook her head. She tried once more to get out of Malfoy's grip.

"Two–"

"Let her go, Malfoy," Harry piped up taking a step forward.

Malfoy, seeing that there was nothing wrong, moved to let her go. Reina bit back a pained gasp.

_Oh no_ she thought.

Silver eyes widened in horror as they watched two bloody words etch their way over Reina's pale skin.

"One–"

"_What_ is the meaning of this ruckus?" came Snape's irritated voice.

Malfoy snapped into action. "Professor, she needs to see Madam Pomfrey immediately!" Before Snape could question him, Malfoy showed him Reina's hand.

Only Reina saw the flicker of surprise in Snape's eyes. "Mr. Malfoy, escort her to the hospital wing now. I will follow shortly," Snape ordered. Turning to the many students now watching the disturbance he snapped, "The rest of you, get back to work!"

"What's going on?" Reina heard Kira ask worriedly as Malfoy tugged her out of the room.

"I don't need to go to the hospital wing," Reina insisted as she was pulled along by Malfoy. "It's already fading."

Malfoy stopped and turned to face her. "This is the third time in the last few minutes, isn't it?" he pointed out. Reina's silence confirmed his guess. "If you don't go to Madam Pomfrey, this will keep happening and eventually scar. Is that what you want?" Again, Reina was silent. "That's what I thought."

The two continued on their way, although Malfoy was no longer dragging Reina along behind him.

_Draco…_ she thought.

………

Reina watched as Madam Pomfrey examined the blood red words on the back of her hand. Draco stood by the bed she was sitting on, only his eyes displaying the worry he felt. Madam Pomfrey had been examining Reina's injured hand for at least five minutes, and both Slytherins were beginning to get antsy.

"And how long did you say this has been happening?" she asked for the third time.

Reina sighed impatiently. "It started a couple minutes ago, right before the end of Potions," she reiterated. "The…words appear, fade, and then almost immediately reappear. I don't know what's causing it."

Madam Pomfrey nodded. The two Slytherins watched as she performed a few spells to stop the words' appearance, her expression growing darker and darker as each one failed to work.

"Does it hurt?" Draco asked after awhile, breaking the tense silence.

Reina shook her head mechanically. "Right now it's really just numb," she told him as her thoughts drifted elsewhere. She had never seen something like this or read about it anywhere, and although there were a couple people she suspected she didn't want to say anything until they knew what the cause was. For Reina, the most frightening part of the entire ordeal was the thought that the words could end up being etched into her skin permanently. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. It was almost a bad as having the actual Dark Mark.

The sound of footsteps and the hospital wing door bursting open brought Reina's floating attention back to the present

In came a concerned Blaise and a shaken up Kira. Behind the two worried fifth years walked a tentative Harry and Ron with a miffed looking Hermione. Reina looked at Gryffindor's golden trio with irritation; she knew they had only come because Kira had.

"Wow," Reina commented dryly, "before you know it I'll have a bigger fan club than you, Malfoy." The blond in question smiled briefly before scowling at the golden trio who were fidgeting by the doorway.

"Rei, what happened back there?" Kira asked. Her voice remained calm, despite the obvious worry in her hazel eyes. Reina watched Blaise from the corner of her eye as he glared at Malfoy, who'd tried to shift closer to Reina's side. "Rei?" came Kira's voice once again.

Shaking herself slightly, Reina showed Kira her hand. There was a brief moment of silence as Blaise watched over Kira's shoulder. Reina flinched as the words re-etched themselves into the back of her hand, a reaction which Malfoy didn't miss.

_So much for numb_, the blond thought as the appearance of the crimson words elicited a gasp from the younger Summers sister.

"What the…?!" was Blaise's startled reaction.

Just then, the door opened for the second time to reveal a livid Professor Snape. Kira backed toward Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Snape immediately went to check on his injured student. Reina jumped slightly when the potions master appeared by her side, for she had been watching her sister intently. The raven-haired Slytherin had seen a look of recognition flicker in Kira's hazel eyes upon seeing the angry red marks magically appear and fade.

Getting straight down to business Snape turned to Madam Pomfrey. "Have you found what's causing this?" he demanded, indicating Reina's hand.

"I've heard of such an occurrence, but it is quite rare these days," Madam Pomfrey responded calmly. "In darker times, when blood contracts were more prevalent, the contracts would be signed with blood quills. These quills would actually extract the blood of the signer and use that in place of ink." The three Slytherin fifth years saw Snape's coal black eyes darken at the healer's words. "As a potions master, I'm positive that you are aware of the magical and binding properties of blood. Signing in blood made the agreements practically impossible to break."

"But I haven't signed or written anything with a blood quill," Reina interrupted.

"It's possible to enchant blood quills to draw blood from another person, even if that person isn't writing with it. Most of the time a strand of the victim's hair is wrapped around the quill as a sort of medium or focus," Draco explained mostly for Reina's benefit. "That's why blood quills are only sold on the black market."

"You would know wouldn't you, Malfoy?" Blaise snapped.

"Blaise, don't antagonize him," Reina said through gritted teeth. It was getting harder to hide the pain. In response to Malfoy's information she said, "My hairbrush was missing this morning. I think Pansy took it, but she doesn't have access to anything like a blood quill, right?"

Malfoy shook his head. "She's a pain but she doesn't have the means to get something like that."

Reina turned to see her sister whispering furiously to Harry. Kira looked irate but it seemed that Harry was adamantly refusing to give in to whatever she was saying. Reina strained to listen better, although by this time their voices were rising.

"Harry, tell them," Kira pleaded.

Harry shook his head. "I won't give her the satisfaction," he replied.

"Harry, tell them!" Kira demanded this time, drawing the gazes of Blaise and Malfoy.

"No."

"HARRY, TELL THEM!!"

Snape and Madam Pomfrey turned to the quarreling Gryffindors. All eyes were on Kira and Harry.

"Tell us what, Mr. Potter?" Snape drawled.

"I-It's nothing, sir," Harry stammered.

"Oh for the love of Merlin," Draco said in exasperation. "Swallow your irritating Gryffindor pride, and just tell us whatever it is!"

Harry opened his mouth to retort. "She's my sister, Harry!" Kira exclaimed angrily, cutting him off.

The Boy Who Lived looked down, hiding the warring emotions on his face. "Will you just spit it out already?!" Reina demanded, the strain becoming evident in her voice. 'This isn't exactly a soothing feeling."

Harry looked up in resignation. "I had a detention earlier in the year with Professor Umbridge," he began. "She had me write lines—"

"The point, Mr. Potter," Snape pushed. "Time is of the essence."

Harry glared but finished. "She had me write with one of her 'special' quills. It left me with this." Harry held out his left hand and turned it palm down.

There, scarred on the back of his hand, was the phrase _I must not tell lies_.

Absolute silence dominated the room, save for an initial horrified gasp from Madam Pomfrey.

The first to break the silence was Malfoy, and Reina could detect the anger that he strained to hide beneath a calm tone. "So Reina isn't the only one she's doing this to?" he clarified.

Harry nodded, albeit reluctantly. "It's her method of punishment," he confirmed. "During detentions she makes you write lines with one of her quills until she thinks the message has 'sunken in'."

"And where does she hold these detentions, Mr. Potter?" Snape asked curtly.

Kira placed a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder. Nodding his appreciation Harry answered, "In her office."

"Poppy, I will let you know when I am finished," Snape stated. This said, the potions master swept promptly from the Hospital Wing. The remaining occupants did not question where he was going. Madam Pomfrey moved to the fireplace in her office to await word from Snape.

"Thank you, Harry," Kira said after a moment, the relief and sincerity in her voice audible to all present.

Harry nodded, and he looked as if a great weight had been lifted from him.

"Why didn't you tell a Professor before now?" Blaise asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

As Harry responded, no one seemed to notice Reina shut her eyes and fail to bite back a gasp as the pain she was trying to suppress got the better of her. "I didn't want to give Umbridge the satisfaction of knowing that she had gotten to me and I'd involved other teachers."

Too busy with trying to ignore the pain, Reina did not hear Harry's response to Blaise. Suddenly she felt someone kneel in front of her to take her hand, placing the tip of their wand upon it and muttering a word softly under their breath. Opening her eyes to look at her hand, Reina watched as it was briefly bathed in a soft blue-green light. The pain from the vile words was numbed by a cool feeling. Looking up, Reina was met with Draco's silvery gaze.

"Better?" he asked softly.

Reina nodded. "How did you do that?"

"My mum showed me some healing spells over the summer," he replied, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn't hear.

"Thanks," Reina said sincerely. Draco nodded in acknowledgment.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?!" came Blaise's angry voice.

Draco practically jumped away from Reina at the sudden interruption. "_I'm_ helping her out," was his scathing reply, "seeing as all of you are too caught up in your own little conversation to see that she's in pain!"

Reina placed a calming hand on Draco's arm, silently urging him to cool down.

"And why, in the name of Merlin, should it matter to _you_ how she feels?" Kira inquired angrily. The blond Slytherin's audacity appalled her.

"You've already rejected any offers of friendship she's extended!" Blaise continued.

A sharp intake of breath halted any further argument, as all eyes moved to focus on Reina. "The words aren't returning," she told them with relief. Kira was at her side in an instant, and for a moment they were back to simpler times, when one of them would fuss in a motherly fashion as the other recovered from an injury. Even Hermione, who had been standing aloof the whole time, had to smile at the bond the two sisters shared.

"I think you should leave, Malfoy," Reina heard Blaise quietly but sternly advise. Malfoy didn't reply, but after a moment Reina heard him make his way to the door.

_Wait_ Reina silently implored. As if hearing the thought, Draco stopped at the door and looked back. Silvery grey eyes met garnet-amber ones and look filled with silent understanding passed between them. Finally, Draco nodded slightly before turning and leaving the room. They would talk later, when they had a little more privacy.

No sooner had he left the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office with bandages in hand. "Professor Snape has informed me that he has taken care of this as soon as I get you bandaged up."

"NO!" Reina and Harry shouted simultaneously.

"We can't give Umbridge that satisfaction," Harry protested.

"Besides," Reina added, "it won't accomplish anything. The ministry won't let her be kicked out of Hogwarts."

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips in disapproval but eventually agreed to not mention anything this time. Instead, turning her attention to Reina's hand she said, "Unfortunately, the…marks will not completely fade."

Reina grimaced.

"There's not really anything I can do for the scarring," Madam Pomfrey continued as she bandaged Reina's hand, "because the injury was magically inflicted."

The raven-haired girl nodded in defeat as Madam Pomfrey finished wrapping her hand. "I want you to stay here for a couple of hours," the mediwitch instructed kindly. "That way, I can make sure that you are indeed fine."

Looking at Kira and Blaise standing silently off to the side Reina said, "You guys can go ahead."

"We don't mind staying," Blaise told his friend.

"Speak for yourself," Reina heard Ron mutter.

Turning her attention back to Blaise, Reina shook her head. "I'll be fine," she reassured, "really."

Kira searched her sister's eyes for a moment before nodding reluctantly. "Alright, see you at dinner then," she agreed before enveloping Reina in a strong embrace. The golden trio watched for a moment before turning and leaving the Hospital Wing. Blaise and Kira eventually followed suit.

Reina sighed, finally dropping her façade to reveal the weariness she actually felt. Pulling her legs up onto the bed she'd been sitting on, she finally laid back. She didn't want to think about Umbridge or her injury. All she wanted was to rest for a little while. _One thing's certain_ Reina thought. _It's time to take Ginny up on her offer._ Reina was done letting Umbridge walk all over her.

With that decision made, Reina shut her eyes, blocking out as many thoughts as she could.

--

Half an hour before dinner that day found Draco Malfoy sitting in the Slytherin common room by the fireplace, staring into the flames as Pansy cuddled and crooned beside him.

"You know, we should head down to dinner soon, Drakie Poo," Pansy said in a sickly sweet voice. Malfoy didn't respond. "C'mon, at least Summers probably won't be there. She's probably in the Hospital Wing crying. Serves her right, that little bi—"

"Enough!" Malfoy snapped, standing abruptly. "How _dare _you do something like that to her!"

"But Drakie, she humiliated you in front of everyone," Pansy reasoned. "That foul, loathsome—"

Malfoy cut her off. "If you ever pull another stunt like the one you pulled today," he threatened, "I will hex you until you're in so much pain you'll be begging for mercy!"

With that, Draco stomped angrily out of the common room.

...

Draco stalked down the dungeon corridors. He didn't know where he was going and frankly, he didn't care, as long as he was far away from Pansy. It had taken every ounce of patience he had not to slap her.

Draco stopped.

Blaise's words earlier that day resounded in his head. _You've already rejected any offers of friendship she's extended!_

Draco growled to himself. He had been so stupid. She had offered him genuine friendship and he had acted as if she was offering nothing more than a worthless piece of junk.

Unable to contain his frustration any longer, Draco turned to the nearest wall and drove his fist into it. The pain that resulted made him regret the choice immediately, and Draco gingerly cast the same soothing spell on his now bruised knuckles that he'd cast for Reina earlier.

"Wow, angry much?" came a familiar sarcastic voice. Draco looked up to see Reina standing a couple feet away. "So, care to tell me why you've decided to take up wall punching?"

Draco shook his head. "It's nothing. How are you feeling?"

Reina shrugged. "I've been better, but at least it doesn't feel like somebody's dragging a knife through my hand."

Silence ensued. Draco didn't know what to say after all of the animosity that had existed between them the past few weeks. Thankfully, Reina decided to make the first move instead.

"Why did you help me today, Draco?" she asked bluntly.

"I-What?" Draco stammered, completely caught off guard.

"I'm tired of playing this ridiculous game with you," Reina vented. "One minute you're a likeable guy and the next you're the biggest arse in London!"

"I…"

"I can't take any more of your split personality," she went on. "I'm dealing with enough as it is. I want to trust you, I really do. But I can't do that if everything about you is a puzzle. So I ask, why did you help me?"

"I was wrong when I turned you down," Draco eventually admitted. "You were the first person to offer me friendship without condition, and I didn't know what to do. I wanted to accept, more than I've wanted anything in a long time, but the Malfoy name held me back."

Reina opened her mouth to comment on just what she thought about the Malfoy name when Draco boldly placed a hand over her mouth, shocking her into silence.

"All of my life," Draco explained, "I have been raised to believe that companionship is weakness, that the only thing that other people are good for is personal gain. Until I got to know you, I believed my father's words. Now, when I have the chance to experience actual friendship firsthand, I can't."

And suddenly, Reina understood. "You're afraid of what your father will think…what he would do if he found out that you were showing such 'weakness'."

Malfoy hesitated before nodding. "Weakness is not something my father takes lightly."

Reina reached out, wavering for a moment before gathering her resolve and a placing a hand on Draco's shoulder. "A young boy once told me that I shouldn't hide who I am because of anyone else," she said gently. "He was right. I never really got a chance to thank him for his words and for being there for me that night."

Reina watched in pleasant surprise as Draco's lips slowly curved into a small but genuine smile. "So…start over?" she offered, extending a hand.

Draco looked at the unique girl in front of him before taking the proffered hand. "Draco Malfoy," he reintroduced.

The raven-haired girl smiled as they shook hands. "Reina Summers. Pleased to meet you."


End file.
